Patent Application
20150025534
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for harvesting bone marrow and bone chips.
2. Description of Related Art
Many medical procedures benefit from the use of harvested bone marrow or bone grafts. For example, spinal fusion surgery typically involves using harvested bone material to cause two vertebrae to grow together into one fused unit. The bone graft for such procedures can be obtained from a patient's own body (i.e., an autograft). Typically, the bone graft is harvested from the iliac crest of a patient's hip. The bone graft may be supplemented with bone marrow aspirate, which has the potential of obtaining fusion rates which are better than allograft alone.
There are existing devices for harvesting bone marrow and for harvesting bone grafts. However, existing devices have certain deficiencies, and there is a need for an improved device for harvesting bone marrow and bone grafts.
In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, a bone harvesting device comprises a probe and a sleeve. The probe comprises a first shaft with a distal end and a proximal end, and a first handle coupled to the proximal end of the shaft. The sleeve comprises a second shaft with a distal end and a proximal end and a second handle coupled to the proximal end of the shaft. The second shaft is configured to slidably receive the probe shaft.
In accordance with another exemplary embodiment, a bone harvesting device comprises a supporting sleeve and a probe. The supporting sleeve comprises a cylindrical sleeve with a distal end and a proximal end, and a sleeve handle coupled to the proximal end of the cylindrical sleeve. The probe comprises a cylindrical shaft with a distal end and a proximal end, and a probe handle coupled to a proximal end of the shaft. The shaft is sized to mate with the interior of the cylindrical sleeve. The probe handle has a portion for interfacing with the sleeve handle when the cylindrical shaft is inserted into the cylindrical sleeve.
In another exemplary embodiment, a method of harvesting a bone graft comprises assembling a probe and a supporting sleeve surrounding said probe, driving said probe and said sleeve into a donor site, withdrawing said probe, and utilizing said sleeve to harvest bone graft material.
The term “coupled” is defined as connected, although not necessarily directly. The terms “a” and “an” are defined as one or more unless this disclosure explicitly requires otherwise.
The terms “substantially,” “approximately,” and “about” are defined as largely but not necessarily wholly what is specified (and includes what is specified; e.g., substantially 90 degrees includes 90 degrees and substantially parallel includes parallel), as understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art. In any disclosed embodiment, the terms “substantially,” “approximately,” and “about” may be substituted with “within [a percentage] of” what is specified, where the percentage includes 0.1, 1, 5, and 10 percent.
The terms “comprise” (and any form of comprise, such as “comprises” and “comprising”), “have” (and any form of have, such as “has” and “having”), “include” (and any form of include, such as “includes” and “including”) and “contain” (and any form of contain, such as “contains” and “containing”) are open-ended linking verbs. As a result, a system, or a component of a system, that “comprises,” “has,” “includes” or “contains” one or more elements or features possesses those one or more elements or features, but is not limited to possessing only those elements or features. Likewise, a method that “comprises,” “has,” “includes” or “contains” one or more steps possesses those one or more steps, but is not limited to possessing only those one or more steps. Additionally, terms such as “first” and “second” are used only to differentiate structures or features, and not to limit the different structures or features to a particular order.
A device, system, or component of either that is configured in a certain way is configured in at least that way, but it can also be configured in other ways than those specifically described.
Any embodiment of any of the systems and methods can consist of or consist essentially of—rather than comprise/include/contain/have—any of the described elements, features, and/or steps. Thus, in any of the claims, the term “consisting of” or “consisting essentially of” can be substituted for any of the open-ended linking verbs recited above, in order to change the scope of a given claim from what it would otherwise be using the open-ended linking verb.
The feature or features of one embodiment may be applied to other embodiments, even though not described or illustrated, unless expressly prohibited by this disclosure or the nature of the embodiments.
Details associated with the embodiments described above and others are presented below.
In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which are shown exemplary but non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments of the invention. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those having skill in the art to practice the invention, and it is understood that other embodiments may be used, and other changes may be made, without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the invention is defined only by the appended claims. In the accompanying drawings, like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the various figures unless otherwise specified.
Referring to
The distal end 110 of the shaft 106 may be configured to promote easy delivery of the probe through tissue to the bone harvest site. In one embodiment, the distal end 110 of the shaft 106 is beveled at approximately 45 degrees. In one embodiment, the shaft 106 is approximately 8″ in length from the tip to the point where it enters the probe handle.
The sleeve portion 104 comprises a hollow shaft 118 having a proximal end 120 and a distal end 122. The shaft 118 may be formed as a hollow cylinder which is sized to receive the shaft 106 of the probe 102. In an exemplary embodiment, the shaft is formed of a 6 gauge hypotube (i.e., an outer diameter of 0.204-0.202″ and an inner diameter of 0.176-0.170″) and is formed of 304 stainless steel. The proximal end 120 of the sleeve 118 is coupled to a handle portion 124. The shaft 118 may be embedded into a hole which extends through the handle portion 124. The handle 124 may be formed of similar materials and have a similar configuration to the previously described handle 112.
The distal end 110 of the shaft 118 may be configured to promote easy delivery of the shaft 118 through tissue to the bone harvest site and subsequently through bone. In one embodiment, the distal end 110 of the shaft 118 is beveled at approximately 45 degrees. In one embodiment, the shaft 118 is approximately 7″ in length from the tip to the point where it enters the sleeve handle.
The probe 102 and sleeve 104 portions may be assembled together as shown. As seen in
In use, the assembled device 100 is delivered to a harvest site. One suitable harvest site is the iliac crest. The operator drives the probe 102 and sleeve 104 into the bone by pressing the probe 102 forward through the soft tissue until it hits the bone. The probe 102 is then removed from the sleeve 104 by pulling on the handle. The sleeve portion 104 is then driven further into the bone to force bone into the interior of the hollow shaft 104. The operator may rotate the handle while moving it forward to aid in the harvesting process. After a sufficient amount of bone has been harvested, the sleeve, which is filled with bone graft material, is removed. The probe 102 may be reinserted into the sleeve 104 to press the harvested graft material out of the sleeve.
Referring to
The sleeve portion 204 is substantially similar to the previously described sleeve portion 104. Accordingly, a detailed description will not be repeated here for conciseness and clarity.
Referring to
The above specification and examples provide a complete description of the structure and use of exemplary embodiments. Although certain embodiments have been described above with a certain degree of particularity, or with reference to one or more individual embodiments, those skilled in the art could make numerous alterations to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the scope of this invention. As such, the various illustrative embodiments of the present devices are not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, they include all modifications and alternatives falling within the scope of the claims, and embodiments other than the one shown may include some or all of the features of the depicted embodiment. For example, components may be combined as a unitary structure, and/or connections may be substituted. Further, where appropriate, aspects of any of the examples described above may be combined with aspects of any of the other examples described to form further examples having comparable or different properties and addressing the same or different problems. Similarly, it will be understood that the benefits and advantages described above may relate to one embodiment or may relate to several embodiments.
The claims are not intended to include, and should not be interpreted to include, means-plus- or step-plus-function limitations, unless such a limitation is explicitly recited in a given claim using the phrase(s) “means for” or “step for,” respectively.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/847,258 filed Jul. 17, 2013, the entire contents of which is specifically incorporated by reference herein without disclaimer.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61847258 | Jul 2013 | US |
