Back to results
US 8,556,911 B2Granted
Arthroscopic tunnel guide for rotator cuff repair
AssigneeVishal M. Mehta
InventorsVishal Mahul Mehta, Eric Schneider, Ben Lane, Brian Lipford
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A drill guide assembly for drilling a tunnel having a fixed, non-zero radius of curvature, where the drill guide assembly includes a housing and a sleeve, or cutting tube, configured to reciprocate within the distal portion where the sleeve, or cutting tube, is configured to receive a bone cutting instrument.
Claims4
An orthopedic drill guide assembly for drilling a tunnel in a bone, the drill guide assembly comprising:
- a drill guide housing having a proximal portion and a distal portion and a body portion disposed between the proximal portion and the distal portion;
- a passage formed within the drill guide housing having a non-zero radius of curvature and extending from the proximal portion to the distal portion;
- a tube defining a lumen therethrough and having a proximal end and a distal end, the tube slidingly disposed within the passage of the distal portion of the drill guide housing, the tube comprising a shape memory alloy so as to define a pre-formed state of the tube and configured to extend from the distal portion and further configured to receive a bone cutting instrument;
- a flexible driveshaft disposed through the lumen of the tube, the driveshaft configured to independently rotate within the tube;
- and
- wherein the driveshaft is coupled with, and configured to rotate, the bone cutting instrument,
- where the tube has a pre-formed curve shape having a non-zero radius of curvature when in the first pre-formed state when extended beyond a distal opening of the distal portion of the drill guide housing and where the tube has a curved shape having a radius of curvature when retracted within the distal portion of the drill guide housing where the radius of curvature of the tube when retracted in the distal portion of the drill guide housing is larger than the radius of the curvature of the tube when in the first pre-formed state.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.