System, method and apparatus for locating, measuring and evaluating the enlargement of a foramen
OwnerLaurence M. McKinleyinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system, apparatus, and method for locating, measuring and evaluating the enlargement of a foramen are provided. An instrument has a handle, an angled region, and a tip to be inserted into the foramen. An instrument can be pressed onto the foramen to determine its location and whether the empty space within the foramen is large enough for the maximum width of the tip to be inserted. If the tip cannot insert, the foramen can be cut to enlarge it enough for the tip to insert. A kit of several instruments or a single instrument with tips of different maximum widths are provided for determining the amount of empty space within the foramen through the course of the enlargement.
Claims22
An instrument for locating and measuring available open space for an exiting nerve in a neural foramen comprising:
- a handle;
- a substantially rigid tip having a pre-determined measurement dimension defined by the maximum width of the rigid tip;
- and
- a substantially rigid angled region coupled between the handle and the tip, said angled region making an angle of from 60 to 80 degrees from the tip distally to the axis of the handle,
- wherein the tip and the angled region are sized such that the maximum width of the tip is insertable into said neural foramen when said neural foramen is in at least one of an unenlarged and an enlarged state to obtain an accurate measurement of the size of said neural foramen.
A system for finding and evaluating available open space for an exiting nerve in a neural foramen comprising:
- a plurality of instruments, each having a handle, a substantially rigid tip having a pre-determined measurement dimension defined by the maximum width, and a substantially rigid angled region between the handle and the tip, said angled region making an angle of from 60 to 80 degrees from the tip distally to the axis of the handle,
- wherein each tip and each angled region are sized such that the maximum width of each tip is insertable into said neural foramen when said neural foramen is in at least one of an unenlarged and an enlarged state, and
- wherein each tip of the plurality of instruments has a different maximum width than the tips of the others of the plurality of instruments.
An instrument for locating and measuring available open space for an exiting nerve in a neural foramen comprising:
- a handle;
- a substantially rigid tip having a pre-determined measurement dimension defined by the maximum width of the rigid tip;
- and
- a substantially rigid angled region coupled between the handle and the tip, said angled region making an angle of from 60 to 80 degrees from the tip distally to the axis of the handle and having a diameter less than the measurement dimension,
- wherein the tip and the angled region are sized such that the maximum width of the tip is insertable into said neural foramen when said neural foramen is in at least one of an unenlarged and an enlarged state, and wherein the tip is shaped to allow for an accurate measurement of the size of the neural foramen independent of the angle of insertion.
An instrument for locating and measuring available open space for an exiting nerve in a neural foramen comprising:
- a handle;
- a substantially rigid tip having a pre-determined measurement dimension defined by the maximum width of the rigid tip;
- and
- a substantially rigid angled region coupled between the handle and the tip, said angled region making an angle of from 60 to 80 degrees from the tip distally to the axis of the handle and having a diameter less than the measurement dimension,
- wherein the tip and the angled region are sized such that the maximum width of the tip is insertable into said neural foramen when said neural foramen is in at least one of an unenlarged and an enlarged state, and wherein the tip is shaped to allow for the insertion of the tip into the foramen without interfering with an exiting nerve.
A system for finding and measuring available open space for an exiting nerve in a neural foramen comprising:
- a plurality of instruments, each having a handle, a substantially rigid tip having a pre-determined measurement dimension defined by the maximum width of the tip, and a substantially rigid angled region between the handle and the tip, said angled region making an angle of from 60 to 80 degrees from the tip distally to the axis of the handle,
- wherein each tip of the plurality of instruments has a different maximum width than the tips of the others of the plurality of instruments,
- wherein at least one instrument has a tip sized sufficiently small to ensure insertion into said neural foramen when said neural foramen is in an unenlarged state, and
- wherein at least one instrument has a tip sized sufficiently large to ensure that the neural foramen is sufficiently enlarged.
A system for finding and measuring available open space for an exiting nerve in a neural foramen comprising:
- a plurality of instruments, each having a handle, a substantially rigid tip having a pre-determined measurement dimension defined by the maximum width of the tip, and a substantially rigid angled region between the handle and the tip, said angled region making an angle of from 60 to 80 degrees from the tip distally to the axis of the handle,
- wherein each tip of the plurality of instruments has a different maximum width than tips of the others of the plurality of instruments,
- wherein at least one instrument has a finder tip sized sufficiently small to ensure insertion into said neural foramen when said neural foramen is in an unenlarged state,
- wherein at least one instrument has an enlarging tip sized sufficiently large to ensure that the neural foramen is sufficiently enlarged, and
- further including at least one instrument that has a measuring tip sized intermediately between the finder and enlargement tips to provide an accurate measurement of the neural foramen during an enlarging procedure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.