Bone plate and resilient screw system allowing bi-directional assembly
AssigneeDepuy Acromed, Inc.
InventorsDavid D. Konieczynski, Thomas V. Doherty
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Bone screws and bone plates are provided that offer the surgeon the ability to either assemble the screws to the plate, or the plate to the screws, depending on the surgeon's preference and the patient's circumstances. The bone screws and bone plates of the present invention include a combination of geometric configurations that allow the screws and plates to fit together from different assembly directions. Additionally, the bone screws and bone plates can include material resilience features to allow expansion/contraction during assembly to allow bi-directional attachment to one another.
Claims19
A bone plate and resilient screw system for the stabilization of bone segments, comprising:
- a bone plate having a first surface, a second, bone-contacting surface opposed to the first surface, and an aperture extending through the first and second surfaces, the aperture having a predefined shape and size, and being configured to receive a bone screw;
- and
- a resilient screw configured to be inserted into bone, the screw having a head region at a proximal end, the head region being defined by a top flange, a bottom flange, and a groove extending therebetween, and an elongated body extending from the head region to a distal end of the screw, the elongated body including a threaded portion;
- wherein at least one of the top and bottom flanges includes at least one curved relief slit extending non-radially into the flange such that the relief slit separates the flange into an outer peripheral portion and an inner portion such that at least one of the top and bottom flanges of the screw is resilient.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.