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US 7,025,769 B1Granted
Surgical fixation system and related methods
AssigneeNuVasive, Inc.
InventorBret A. Ferree
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A surgical fixation system including a surgical fixation plate, a plurality of fasteners, and a retainer having an improved mechanism to prevent the back out of screws employed in securing a surgical fixation plate to an intended orthopedic location.
Claims30
A surgical fixation system, comprising:
- a plate having at least one fastener-receiving aperture and at least one retainer-receiving aperture, said fastener-receiving aperture extending between an upper surface and a lower surface of said plate, and said retainer-receiving aperture having a periphery defined by a plurality of tab members extending from said upper surface wherein at least a portion of said tab members are deformable from a first position to a second position, said first position permitting the introduction of said retainer into said retainer-receiving aperture, and said second position preventing the removal of said retainer from said retainer-receiving aperture;
- at least one fastener having an anchor region and a head region;
- said anchor region dimensioned to be passed through said fastener-receiving aperture for introduction into a surgical target site, and said head region dimensioned to be received at least partially within said fastener-receiving aperture;
- and
- at least one retainer dimensioned to be introduced into said retainer-receiving aperture to overlap at least a portion of said head region of said fastener and thereby prevent said fastener from backing out of said fastener-receiving aperture.
2 more elements
A method of surgical fixation, comprising the steps of:
- (a) positioning a plate over an intended surgical target site, said plate having at least one fastener-receiving aperture and at least one retainer-receiving aperture, said fastener-receiving aperture extending between an upper surface and a lower surface of said plate, and said retainer-receiving aperture having a periphery defined by a plurality of tab members extending from said upper surface wherein at least a portion of said tab members are deformable from a first position to a second position, said first position permitting the introduction of said retainer into said retainer-receiving aperture, and said second position preventing the removal of said retainer from said retainer-receiving aperture;
- (b) introducing a fastener into said fastener-receiving aperture such that an anchor region of said fastener is introduced into said surgical target site and a head region of said fastener is receiving at least partially within said fastener-receiving aperture;
- and
- (c) introducing a retainer into said retainer-receiving aperture to overlap at least a portion of said head region of said fastener and thereby prevent said fastener from backing out of said fastener-receiving aperture.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.