External fixation and foot-supporting device
OwnerRandall J. Huebner, Alexander Randall Shaevitz +2inventors
InventorsRandall J. Huebner, Alexander Randall Shaevitz, William McGrath, Douglas N. Beaman
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Abstract
In one preferred embodiment according to the present invention, an external fixation device for the foot and ankle of the human anatomical skeleton includes a yoke, three adjusters, and a base (or foot plate). The foot plate selectively couples to the yoke without the need of any tools, thereby enabling the patient to self attach and remove the foot plate from an existing circular fixation structure.
Claims11
An external fixation device for attachment to a lower-extremity external fixation frame for a patient, the device comprising:
- a rectilinear base plate adapted to contact a surface during walking;
- at least one adjuster coupled to the base plate, the at least one adjuster comprising a strut having a longitudinal axis defined between a first end and a second, opposite end with an intermediate portion disposed between the first and second ends, and a ball joint adapted to receive the first end of the strut and adapted to enable 360-degrees of rotation of the strut about the longitudinal axis;
- and
- the base plate further comprising of a first medial-lateral bracket coupled to a first side of the base plate, a second medial-lateral bracket coupled to a second, opposite side of the base plate, and a posterior bracket coupled to the base plate;
- each respective bracket further comprises a corresponding shoulder offset from the plane of the base plate the shoulder extending upward and away from the base plate along a diagonal defined from about 15 degrees from a horizontal reference plane defined by the base plate to about 45-degrees from the same horizontal reference plane, and wherein each respective bracket adapts to couple to the at least one adjuster and the shoulder adapted to receive the first end of the support strut.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.