1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a device for bone fixation. More particularly, the present invention relates to a device for bone fixation that includes an enclosing unit and an expanding unit, and is capable of expanding and contracting.
2. the Prior Arts
Following are some common ways of performing a surgery to inject or fill medical fillers into bones:
In a first type of commonly seen surgery, a mechanical-type cavity expansion device (e.g., U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 20110196494, 20110184447, 20100076426, 20070067034, 20060009689, 20050143827 & 20020052623, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,354,995 & 6,676,665) is utilized to expand a cavity in the bone so as to create a space, wherefrom the cavity expansion device is removed after the cavity has been bored. A covering device is then inserted before the process of injecting or stuffing of the medical fillers takes place. This type of surgery has the following drawbacks: the cancellous bone fragments that are crushed by the mechanical-type cavity expansion device often falls into and jamming the mechanical-type cavity expansion device, and causing its components unable to be retrieved, i.e., unable to restore to a contracted state, which in turn causes the entire mechanical-type cavity expansion device to be stuck at the location of the cavity and unable to be removed.
In a second type of commonly seen surgery, a filling-type cavity expansion device (e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,972,015, 6,066,154, 6,235,043, 6,423,083, 6,607,544, 6,623,505, 6,663,647, and 6,716,216) is used to bore a cavity in the bone to create a space, where the cavity expansion device is removed from after the cavity is bored. Subsequently, a covering device is placed therein, and the surgery with the injecting or stuffing of the medical filler takes place. In most situations, the filling-type cavity expansion device achieves the effect of cavity expansion first by placing a balloon (the type of balloon used depends on the needs of the surgery) into the bones, then, fills liquid such as water into the balloon with high pressure to expand the balloon, so as to push away the cancellous bone. However, the filling-type cavity expansion device also has some drawbacks. For instance, since the balloon must be attached to a nozzle to operate, when liquid is being filled into the balloon by high pressure, it is possible for the balloon be detached from the nozzle, or, the balloon may even rupture during the filling.
In cases which a cavity expansion process is not done beforehand and a covering device is placed directly into the bone for the insertion of medical fillers, the cavity expansion is instead achieved through the pressure created when medical fillers are inserted into the covering device. The covering device in such cases acts as both a cavity expansion device and a fixation device, as disclosed in Taiwan Patent Application Publication No. 201112995, Taiwan Patent No. 1321467 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,248,110. It is also possible to exclude the covering device entirely and instead using a perfusion device to directly pour medical filler at the surgery location to reinforce fixation at the surgery location, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,137. The type of surgery as described above has the following drawbacks: since the cavity is not bored before the surgery, the area for pouring the medical filler cannot be controlled accurately, and the flowing direction of the medical filler could differ from predicted. In addition, there may even be cases that the bones are not properly supported after the pouring of the medical filler is completed, or the medical filler could spread all over the bone, or the medical filler could even seep out from the bone. Furthermore, when using slurry-type medical filler, if the concentration of the medical filler is too dilute, or the particles of the medical filler are too small, it is possible that the medical filler could not properly support the bones, thereby compromising the expected effectiveness of the surgery.
In a third type of commonly seen surgery for bone fixation, a mechanical-type cavity expansion device (e.g., U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 20120071977, 20110046739, 20100069913, 20100217335, 20090234398 & 20090005821) is utilized as the bone fixation device and is implanted into and props up the bone with the medical filler being injected therein immediately afterwards to surround the mechanical-type cavity expansion device. When the injecting process is finished, such cavity expansion device is left inside the body along with the medical filler. Due to the lack of a covering device, it is not possible to effectively control the flow direction of the medical filler, and the medical filler can therefore spread out in all directions or even flow out of the bone. Besides, the medical filler also cannot effectively and fully cover the mechanical-type cavity expansion device, and it may leads to that the mechanical-type cavity expansion device gradually contract to a partially expanded state instead of the fully expanded state. Consequently, the bone is not fully propped up, thus losing the original purpose of the bone fixation device.
The applicant of the present invention has filed a device for bone fixation (Taiwan Patent Application No. 101139150), in which a covering unit is configured to cover the expanding unit, so as to effectively prevent the crushed cancellous bone from falling into the expanding unit, thus allowing the expanding unit to expand and contract in the bone for the purpose of bone expansion. In addition, when injecting the medical filler, the bone fixation device is able to effectively control the flowing range of the medical filler to prevent the medical filler from spreading all over in the bone. When the injecting process is completed, the medical filler is able to enclose the expanding unit completely, thereby preventing the expanding unit from contracting. However, the structure of the expanding unit of such bone fixation device is rather unitary, since the toughness and collapsing situation of the bones are different for every patient, the expanding unit in such bone fixation device cannot be adjusted to cope with the various situations of different patients. Moreover, it was discovered that the propping effect of such bone fixation device does not meet the expectation when implanted into patients with bones of higher toughness. Therefore, the applicant hereby presents the present invention which improves the abovementioned bone fixation device, so the device for bone fixation can be adapted to use in various situations.
Based on the above reasons, the present invention provides a device for bone fixation which utilizes a enclosing unit to enclose the expanding structures of the expanding unit, so as to effectively prevent the crushed cancellous bones from falling into the expanding unit during the cavity expansion process in surgery. In this way, the expanding unit can be expanded and contracted inside the bones to adjust the direction or range of the cavity expansion without being jammed. When medical filler is injected into the bones, the enclosing unit can efficaciously control the range of which the medical filler flows to, so as to prevent the medical filler from spreading all over in the bones. As a result, when the injecting process is completed, the medical filler can fully fill up the expanding unit to keep the expanding structures from contracting. A small amount or a part of the medical filler can exude from the holes of the enclosing unit and bind with the trabecular bones. In addition, the device for bone fixation of the present invention provides multiple expanding structures. With multiple expanding structures, not only the strength of the expanding unit is reinforced for supporting bones with higher toughness, the expanding unit is also able to support bones with different collapsing situations by adjusting the length and arrangement of the expanding structures.
An object of the present invention is to provide a device for bone fixation.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a device for bone fixation with an enclosing unit.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a device for bone fixation with an expanding unit.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a device for bone fixation with an enclosing unit and an expanding unit.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a device for bone fixation into which the medical filler can be injected via a tube.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a device for bone fixation which has the capability to prop up a bone.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a device for bone fixation which can prevent bone fragments from jamming the expanding unit.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a device for bone fixation in which the medical filler can fully enclose the expanding unit,
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a device for bone fixation in which the expanding unit can be expanded and contracted.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a device for bone fixation that has multiple expanding structures.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a device for bone fixation of which the multiple expanding structures have different rib lengths.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a device for bone fixation in which the ribs of the multiple expanding structures are aligned with each other.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a device for bone fixation in which the ribs of the multiple expanding structures are staggered from each other.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a device for bone fixation with a pressing unit.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a device for bone fixation with a hollow fixing unit.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a device for bone fixation which has limited control over the extent of medical filler injecting.
For achieving the foregoing objectives, the present invention provides a device for bone fixation that includes: an expanding unit and an enclosing unit. The expanding unit has a first end and a second end, and includes two or more expanding structures capable of switching between an expanded state and a contracted state. The expanding unit includes a first expanding structure located near the first end thereof and a second expanding structure located near the second end thereof. The enclosing unit encloses the expanding unit and has a first end and a second end. The first end of the enclosing unit is secured at the first end of the expanding unit, and the second end of the enclosing unit is secured at the second end of the expanding unit. When the device for bone fixation is placed inside a bone, the expanding structures of the expanding unit are switched to the expanding state and thereby propping up the enclosing unit. Medical filler is filled into the enclosing unit through the second end of the expanding unit.
In the present invention, the expanding unit has a hollowed structure and includes multiple expanding structures. Each expanding structure includes: at least four grooves, disposed circularly on and through the expanding unit about a central axis thereof, thus forming a rib between every two grooves. Each rib has at least one bendable joint.
The expanding unit at least includes a first expanding structure and a second expanding structure. The first expanding structure is located on the expanding unit close to the first end thereof; and the second expanding structure is located on the expanding unit close to the second end thereof. Each expanding structure has a rib length. The first expanding structure and the second expanding structure can be configured to have the same rib length (
At least one third expanding structure can be disposed between the first expanding structure and the second expanding structure. Similar to the situation described above, the third expanding structure can also be configured to have a rib length different from the rib lengths of the first and second expanding structures, while the ribs of the third expanding structures are aligned with the ribs of the first and second expanding structures (
In the above described configurations of the expanding unit, the most preferable configuration is the one having two expanding structures, and the ribs of the two expanding structures are aligned with each other. In addition, the second most preferable configuration is the one having three expanding structures, and the ribs of one of the expanding structures are staggered from the ribs of the rest of the expanding structures.
By providing the expanding structures with the configurations as described above, the device for bone fixation of the present invention is able to reinforce the support strength of the expanding unit, so the expanding structures are less likely to be pushed back to the contracted state from the expanded state when being used to support bones with higher toughness. Furthermore, the supported width of the expanding structures in the expanded state can be adjusted by arranging the rib lengths of each expanding structure, and the expanding direction of the expanding structures can also be adjusted by arranging the location of the ribs. In this way, the user may choose the most fitting expanding unit according to the collapsing shape and status of the bone, and the device for bone fixation provided by the present invention can also support the collapsed bones in a more reliable and steady manner.
In the aforementioned expanding unit, the medical filler is filled into the enclosing unit after the expanding structure props up the enclosing unit in the expanded state, instead of utilizing the pressure generated when the medical filler is injected or stuffed into the enclosing unit to prop up the enclosing unit. Consequently, the situation where the expanding unit and enclosing unit cannot be properly propped up due to insufficient pressure caused by either slurry medical filler being excessively dilute (seeping out via the holes of the enclosing unit), or caused by the particle of the medical filler being too small (falling out from the holes of the enclosing unit) can be avoided. With the configuration provided by the present invention, the function of the expanding unit can be well preserved and reinforced.
The aforementioned enclosing unit can effectively prevent crushed cancellous bone fragments from jamming the expanding structure during the cavity expansion process, thus allowing the expanding structure to be expanded and contracted smoothly; besides, the enclosing unit can effectively control the flowing range of the medical filler to refrain the medical filler from spreading all over within the bones, being injected unevenly or even flowing out of the bone, thereby lowering the risk of the patient being injured during the surgery. When the injecting process is completed, the medical filler can fully fill up and cover the expanding structures, thus lowering the possibility of the expanding structures from contracting.
The aforementioned enclosing unit can have a cylindrical shape, cone-like shape, sphere-like shape, gourd-like shape, cubical shape, cube-like shape or any other conventional shapes when in expanded state.
The aforementioned enclosing unit can be any types of conventional enclosing unit, such as an elastic enclosing unit, mesh-shaped enclosing unit or porous enclosing unit, among which the mesh-shaped enclosing unit and the porous enclosing unit are the preferable choices. The enclosing unit can also be an enclosing unit with a single layer or multiple layers.
The aforementioned enclosing unit is made of biocompatible materials, especially, is made of elastic biocompatible materials, such as poly-urethane (PU), silicone rubber and nylon. Alternatively, the enclosing unit can also be the enclosing units included in similar devices, such as the devices for bone fixation disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 20040122455, 20040210297, 20040073308 & 20060149379, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,719,773.
Other than elastic and compatible materials, the aforementioned mesh-shaped enclosing unit can also be made of biocompatible surgical sutures, such as catgut and chrome catgut, which are natural and absorbable sutures, silk and cotton threads, which are natural and non-absorbable sutures, polyglycolic acid threads and poly (lactic acid-co-glycolic) ethanol threads, which are synthetic and absorbable sutures, and, nylon threads, polyester fiber threads, polyethylene threads, polypropylene threads, polydioxanone threads and poly-tetra-fluor-oethylene threads, which are synthetic and non-absorbable sutures.
The aforementioned mesh-shaped enclosing unit can also be made of biocompatible metal wires, such as titanium, titanium alloy or stainless steel wires.
A protrusion is provided at the first end of the expanding unit for holding against the first end of the enclosing unit. In this way, the enclosing unit can be protected from being damaged by excessively sharp first end of the expanding unit,
The aforementioned enclosing unit can further include a fixing device for joining with the protrusion of the expanding unit to reinforce the connection between the enclosing unit and the expanding unit. The fixing device can be a ring-shaped fixing member (as shown in
The second end of the aforementioned expanding unit can be connected with the second end of the enclosing unit with any conventional methods, such as riveting, using a retainer ring, locking, adhering, buckling, engaging, or binding. A annular groove can be provided at the second end of the expanding unit, and the enclosing unit can be secured to the annular groove at the second end of the expanding unit by riveting, using a retainer ring, locking or binding (
The aforementioned medical filler can be any conventional medical filler, such as bone grafts, bone substitutes, bone cement, and/or a mixture, composition and composite of the bone grafts, the bone substitutes and the bone cements. Please see Taiwan Patent Application No. 097141700, Taiwan Patent No. 1227146 and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20070088436 for reference, Generally, the aforementioned medical filler can be medical filler that are simply used to fill, such as auto-grafts or allografts. Such medical fillers are implanted bone grafts, and are mixed with bone cements first before they are used in the filling process; however, they have a rather poor solidifying effect. Hence, it is preferable that the medical filler is a medical filler paste that can at least solidify, such as the slurry type medical filler. Alternatively, after the mixture of the bone cement and the transplanted bone grafts are injected in, the slurry that can solidify is injected in to fill up the enclosing unit substantially. Generally speaking, it is best to use only the slurry medical filler. Herein, the slurry type medical filler refers to the slurry which is prepared prior to using or during using, and can solidify within a proper time period after being injected into the enclosing unit. Such medical filler can be bone substitutes, bone cement, and/or a mixture, composition or composite of the two. It is preferable that the aforementioned medical filler is osteo-conductive and/or osteo-inductive. Osteo-conductive medical filler can be conventional HA bone filler, while osteo-inductive medical filler can be conventional SrHA medical filler, among which the osteo-inductive medical filler is the preferred choice. Please see Taiwan Patent Application No. 09714700 for reference. The medical filler mentioned above is well known for a person skilled in the art. In addition to the conventional medical fillers, a combination of conventional medical fillers or modified medical filler may also be used. The medical filler used in the present invention may even be any newly developed medical filler that has the same effect as described.
According to another embodiment, the present invention provides a device for bone fixation, which includes: an expanding unit, an enclosing unit, a hollow joining tube, an auxiliary expanding unit, an operating lever and an injection tool. The expanding unit has a first end and a second end, and includes two or more expanding structures capable of switching between an expanded state and a contracted state. The expanding unit includes a first expanding structure located near the first end thereof and a second expanding structure located near the second end thereof. The enclosing unit encloses the expanding unit and has a first end and a second end. The first end of the enclosing unit is secured at the first end of the expanding unit, and the second end of the enclosing unit is secured at the second end of the expanding unit. When the expanding structures of the expanding unit are switched to the expanding state, the expanding unit props up the enclosing unit. The hollow joining tube has a front end and a rear end. The front end of the hollow joining tube is detachably joined with the second end of the expanding unit. The auxiliary expanding unit has a coupling end and an operating end opposite to the coupling end. The coupling end of the auxiliary expanding unit is detachably coupled to the rear end of the hollow joining tube. The operating lever has a front end and a rear end. The front end of the operating lever is detachably joined with the expanding unit. The rear end of the operating lever is joined with the operating end of the auxiliary expanding unit, thereby allowing the auxiliary expanding unit to adjust the expanding unit to the expanded state or the contracted state by operating the operating lever. The injection tool is joined with the rear end of the hollow joining tube or the rear end of the operating lever, so as to inject or push a medical filler into the enclosing unit via the hollow joining tube or via the operating lever. The auxiliary expanding unit is detached and the injection tool is attached after the auxiliary expanding unit expands the expanding unit with the operating lever for filling the medical filler.
Herein, the expanding unit, enclosing unit and medical filler are the same as those previously described, thus the detailed description thereof will be omitted hereafter.
The aforementioned hollow joining tube can be any conventional hollow joining tube that can achieve the same effect,
The aforementioned auxiliary expanding unit adjusts the expanding structures of the expanding unit to the expanded state or the contracted state with the connection between the auxiliary expanding unit and the operating lever along with the connection between the operating lever and the expanding unit. When the expanding structures are expanded, the auxiliary expanding unit can be detached with the detachable connection between the auxiliary expanding unit and the hollow joining tube. Subsequently, the injection tool is attached for injecting or pouring the medical filler.
The second end of the aforementioned is detachably attached to the auxiliary expanding unit with any conventional detachably attachment (similar to
The detachable connection between the front end of the operating lever and the expanding unit can be any conventional connections (as shown in
With the aforementioned configuration of the auxiliary expanding unit, operating lever and expanding unit, the device for bone fixation provided by the present invention is configured in such way that the expanding unit is expanded by pushing the auxiliary expanding unit toward the expanding unit (
The aforementioned operating lever can further be a hollowed operating lever. After the expanding unit is expanded to the expanded state by the hollowed operating lever, the hollowed operating lever can be detached from the expanding unit but not completely removed from the expanding unit, so the medical filler can be injected into the enclosing unit via the hollowed operating lever (refer to
The aforementioned injection tool is used after the auxiliary expanding unit and the operating lever have been detached, and is connected with the hollow joining tube for the injection of the medical filler.
Alternatively, the aforementioned injection tool may also be used after the auxiliary expanding unit is detached, and is connected with the hollowed operating lever for the injection of the medical filler.
Referring to
The aforementioned extension tube can be any conventional extension tube that can achieve the same effect.
The aforementioned injection tool can be any conventional injection tool that can achieve the same effect.
The aforementioned device for bone fixation can further include a connecting unit, such as an engaging groove, spinal rod, bone hook, bone plate or a combination of the above, as shown in FIGS. 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d, 4e and 15 of Taiwan Patent Application No. 201039796.
A method for performing bone fixation surgery provided by the present invention includes the following steps: placing an expanding unit in a contracted state into a vertebra, wherein an enclosing unit encloses the expanding unit; expanding the expanding unit to a expanded state inside the vertebra, so as to prop up the enclosing unit and the vertebra; injecting the medical filler into the enclosing unit when the enclosing unit is propped up; and, leaving the enclosing unit and the expanding unit filled with the medical filler inside the vertebra,
The expanding unit, enclosing unit and medical filler herein are the same as those described above, therefore, the detailed description thereof will be omitted hereafter.
The method for performing surgery with the bone fixation device can further include an auxiliary expanding unit, a hollow joining tube, an operating lever and an injection tool.
The aforementioned device for bone fixation can further include an extension tube.
The auxiliary expanding unit, hollow joining tube, operating lever and injection tool herein are the same as those described above, therefore, the detailed description thereof will be omitted hereafter.
According to another embodiment, the present invention provides a device for bone fixation which includes: an expanding unit, an enclosing unit, an auxiliary expanding unit, a hollow fixing unit, a pressing unit, an operating lever and an injection tool. The expanding unit has a first end and a second end, and includes two or more expanding structures capable of switching between an expanded state and a contracted state. The expanding unit includes a first expanding structure located near the first end thereof and a second expanding structure located near the second end thereof. The enclosing unit encloses the expanding unit and has a first end and a second end. The first end of the enclosing unit is secured at the first end of the expanding unit, and the second end of the enclosing unit is secured at the second end of the expanding unit. When the expanding structures of the expanding unit are switched to the expanding state, the expanding unit props up the enclosing unit. The hollow fixing unit has an injecting end and a connecting end opposite to the injecting end. The connecting end of the hollow fixing unit is detachably joined with the second end of the expanding unit. The pressing unit is joined with the injecting end of the hollow fixing unit. The auxiliary expanding unit has a coupling end and an operating end opposite to the coupling end. The coupling end of the auxiliary expanding unit is detachably coupled to the injecting end of the hollow fixing unit. The operating lever has a front end and a rear end. The front end of the operating lever is detachably joined with the expanding unit. The rear end of the operating lever is joined with the operating end of the auxiliary expanding unit, thereby allowing the auxiliary expanding unit to adjust the expanding unit to the expanded state or the contracted state by operating the operating lever. The injection tool is joined with the injecting end of the hollow fixing unit or the rear end of the operating lever, so as to inject or push medical filler into the enclosing unit via the hollow fixing unit or via the operating lever. The auxiliary expanding unit is detached and the injection tool is attached instead after the auxiliary expanding unit expands the expanding unit with the operating lever for filling the medical filler, when the filling is finished, the pressing unit is set up to press the device for bone fixation toward a bone at a surgical site.
The expanding unit, enclosing unit, medical filler and operating lever herein are the same as those described above, therefore, the detailed description thereof will be omitted hereafter.
The aforementioned pressing unit can be any conventional pressing unit (see
The connection between the injecting end of the hollow fixing unit and the pressing unit can be any conventional connection, such as engaging, locking or thread engaging.
The surface between the connecting end and the injecting end of the aforementioned hollow fixing unit can have various patterns of embossments, such as ring-shaped embossments, stripe-shaped embossments, spot-shaped embossments, or mesh-shaped embossments (
The connection between the connecting end of the aforementioned fixing unit and the second end of the expanding unit can be any conventional connection, such as riveting, engaging, using retainer rings, thread engaging or locking.
The aforementioned device for bone fixation can further include an auxiliary fixing unit (as shown in
The connection between the pressing unit and the auxiliary connecting unit can be any conventional connecting unit, such as joint replacement-screw connection (as shown in
The aforementioned auxiliary expanding unit adjusts the expanding structures of the expanding unit to the expanded state or the contracted state with the connection between the auxiliary expanding unit and the operating lever along with the connection between the operating lever and the expanding unit. When the expanding structures are expanded, the auxiliary expanding unit can be detached with the detachable connection between the auxiliary expanding unit and the hollow joining tube. Subsequently, the injection tool is attached for injecting the medical filler.
The second end of the aforementioned is detachably attached to the auxiliary expanding unit with any conventional detachably attachment, such as engaging, locking or thread engaging.
The aforementioned injection tool is used after the auxiliary expanding unit and the operating lever have been detached, and is connected with the hollow joining tube for the injection of the medical filler.
Alternatively, the aforementioned injection tool may also be used after the auxiliary expanding unit is detached, and is connected with the hollowed operating lever for the injection of the medical filler.
The aforementioned device for bone fixation can further include an extension tube. The extension tube is used in conjunction with the injection tool. The two ends of the extension tube can be connected with the rear end of the hollow joining tube and the injection tool respectively. The connection between the extension tube, the hollow joining tube and the injection tool can be any conventional connecting methods, such as engaging, locking and thread engaging.
The aforementioned extension tube can be any conventional extension tube that can achieve the same effect.
The aforementioned injection tool can be any conventional injection tool that can achieve the same effect.
A method for performing bone fixation surgery provided by the present invention includes the following steps: placing an expanding unit in a contracted state and a hollow fixing unit into a vertebra, wherein an enclosing unit encloses the expanding unit; expanding the expanding unit to a expanded state inside the vertebra, so as to prop up the enclosing unit and the vertebra; injecting the medical filler into the enclosing unit when the enclosing unit is propped up; leaving the enclosing unit and the expanding unit filled with the medical filler and the hollow fixing unit inside the vertebra; and, pressing the hollow fixing unit toward the bones at a surgical site with a pressing unit.
Herein, the expanding unit, enclosing unit, medical filler, hollow fixing unit and pressing unit are the same as those previously described, thus the detailed description thereof will be omitted hereafter.
The aforementioned method for performing bone fixation surgery can further include an auxiliary expanding unit, an operating lever and an injection tool. Herein, the auxiliary expanding unit, operating lever and injection tool are the same as those previously described, thus the detailed description thereof will be omitted hereafter.
The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:
a is a perspective view of a device for bone fixation according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
b is a perspective view of the device for bone fixation according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention in an expanded state;
c is a perspective view of the device for bone fixation according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention being used for injecting;
a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e, 2f, 2g, 2h, 2i, 2j are perspective views showing a expanding unit of the device for bone fixation according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention;
a, 3b, 3c, 3d are perspective views showing two ways for expanding the device for bone fixation according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention;
a, 4b, 4c, 4d are perspective views showing four ways to connect a second end of the expanding unit with a second end of an enclosing unit according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention;
a, 5b, 5c, 5d are perspective views showing two ways for connecting a first end of the expanding unit with a first end of the enclosing unit of the present invention;
a, 6b are perspective views showing two types of connection between the expanding unit and an auxiliary expanding unit according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention;
a, 7b, 7c, 7d, 7e are perspective views showing two types of connection between the expanding unit, auxiliary expanding unit and an operating lever according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention;
a is a perspective view showing a device for bone fixation according to another embodiment of the present invention;
b is a perspective view showing the device for bone fixation in a expanded state according to another embodiment of the present invention;
c is a perspective view showing the device for bone fixation according to another embodiment of the present invention after the injection process is completed;
a, 9b, 9c, 9d, 9c are perspective views showing five examples of the embossments on the body of a hollow fixing unit of the device for bone fixation according to another embodiment of the present invention;
a, 10b are perspective views showing two ways for connecting the hollow fixing unit and a pressing unit according to another embodiment of the present invention;
a-16k are perspective views illustrating surgery steps using the device for bone fixation according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention; and
a, 17b, 17c, 17d are perspective views illustrating surgery steps using the device for bone fixation according to another embodiment of the present invention.
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention,
a is a perspective view showing a device for bone fixation according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in
b is a perspective view showing the expanding unit 100 from
c is a perspective view of the device for bone fixation according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention being used for injecting medical fillers. As shown in
a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e, 2f, 2g, 2h, 2i, 2j are perspective views showing the expanding unit 100 of the device for bone fixation according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figures, the expanding unit 100 has a hollowed structure. Each of the expanding structures 110a and 110b includes at least four grooves 111. The grooves 111 are circularly disposed on the expanding unit 100 about a central axis thereof, so as to form a rib 112 between every two groove 111. Each of the ribs 112 at least includes a bendable joint 113. Herein, the expanding unit 100 includes the first expanding structure 110a and the second expanding structure 110b. The first expanding structure 110a is located on the expanding unit 100 close the first end thereof, and the second expanding structure 110b is located on the expanding unit 100 close to the second end 120 thereof. Each of the expanding structures 110a and 110b includes a rib length L1 and L2, respectively.
a and 2b illustrate a configuration in which the first expanding structure 110a and the second expanding structure 110b have the same rib length L1 and L2.
c and 2d illustrate a configuration in which the rib length L1 of first expanding structure 110a is larger than the rib length L2 of the second expanding structure 110b.
e and 2f illustrate a configuration in which the rib length L1 of first expanding structure 110a is smaller than the rib length L2 of the second expanding structure 110b.
g and 2h illustrate a configuration in which a third expanding structure 110c is provided between the first expanding structure 110a and the second expanding structure 110b. The third expanding structure has a rib length L3.
i and 2j illustrate a configuration in which the ribs of the third expanding structure 110c are staggered from the ribs of the first and second expanding structures 110a & 110b,
a, 3b, 3c, 3d are perspective views showing two ways for expanding the device for bone fixation according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in
a, 4b, 4c, 4d are perspective views showing four ways to connect the second end of the expanding unit with the second end of the enclosing unit according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
a, 5b, 5c, 5d are perspective views showing two ways for connecting the first end of the expanding unit with the first end of the enclosing unit of the present invention.
a, 6b are perspective views showing two types of connection between the expanding unit and the auxiliary expanding unit according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
a, 7b, 7c, 7d, 7e are perspective views showing two types of connection between the expanding unit, auxiliary expanding unit and the operating lever according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
a is a perspective view showing a device for bone fixation according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in
b is a perspective view showing the expanding structure 110 from
c is a perspective view showing the expanding structure 110 from
a, 9b, 9c, 9d, 9e are perspective views showing five examples of the embossments on the body of the hollow fixing unit of the device for bone fixation according to another embodiment of the present invention,
a and 10b are perspective views showing two ways for connecting the hollow fixing unit and the pressing unit according to another embodiment of the present invention.
a-16k are perspective views illustrating surgery steps using the device for bone fixation according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
a, 17b, 17c, 17d are perspective views illustrating surgery steps using the device for bone fixation according to another embodiment of the present invention.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims.
This application is a continuation in part of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/059,981 filed on Oct. 22, 2013, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 14059981 | Oct 2013 | US |
Child | 14457595 | US |