Claims
- 1. A headed bioabsorbable tissue anchor for attaching soft tissue to bone without using suture, the tissue anchor, comprising:
a body formed of a bioabsorbable material, the body having a distal end and a proximal end; a continuous thread disposed in a spiral around the body and having an inner and an outer diameter, the surface area of the thread increasing from the proximal end to the distal end of the body; a disk-shaped head disposed on the proximal end of the body for engaging soft tissue and holding the soft tissue against bone without using suture, the head having an outer diameter greater than the outer diameter of the thread for compressing soft tissue to bone; and a coupling arrangement for engaging a driver for turning the anchor, the coupling arrangement comprising: (i) at least one slot that extends completely through the head of the anchor without extending into the body of the anchor, the slot being engaged by a corresponding projection on the driver; and (ii) a cannula extending completely through the body of the tissue anchor and being shaped to receive a central, correspondingly shaped pin of the driver.
- 2. The tissue anchor of claim 1, wherein the at least one slot comprises three arcuate slots for engaging corresponding projections on the driver.
- 3. The tissue anchor of claim 1, wherein the cannula tapers from the proximal end to the distal end to provide a secure fit with the pin of the driver.
- 4. The tissue anchor of claim 1, wherein the thread has a thickness at an outer edge of the thread which increases proximally along a portion of the thread.
- 5. The tissue anchor of claim 1, wherein the outer diameter of the thread is at least twice the inner diameter of the thread along a portion of the thread.
- 6. The tissue anchor of claim 1, wherein the outer diameter of the thread is substantially constant from the proximal end to the distal end.
- 7. The tissue anchor of claim 1, wherein the body tapers from the proximal end to the distal end.
- 8. The tissue anchor of claim 1, wherein the distal end of the body terminates in a flat tip.
- 9. The tissue anchor of claim 1, wherein the tissue anchor is formed of a PLA co-polymer.
- 10. The tissue anchor of claim 9, wherein the PLA co-polymer comprises poly(L/D-lactide) acid.
- 11. A headed bioabsorbable tissue anchor and driver assembly for driving a headed bioabsorbable tissue anchor into bone and to engage soft tissue and hold the soft tissue against a surface of the bone, the assembly comprising:
a driver having a distal end and a proximal end, the distal end having a plurality of projections; and a headed bioabsorbable tissue anchor inserted on the distal end of the driver, the head of the tissue anchor being disk-shaped for engaging soft tissue and having slots engaging the plurality of projections on the driver, the slots extending completely through the head of the anchor, the tissue anchor further comprising a cannula extending completely through the tissue anchor and being shaped to receive a central, correspondingly shaped pin of the driver.
- 12. A method of anchoring tissue to bone using the headed bioabsorbable tissue anchor of claim 1, the method comprising the steps of installing the anchor through the tissue by turning the anchor with a driver into a pre-tapped hole in bone.
- 13. A method of rotator cuff repair using a headed bioabsorbable tissue anchor having a cannulated body having a distal end and a proximal end, a continuous thread disposed in a spiral around the body and having an outer diameter; and a disk-shaped head disposed on the proximal end of the body and having an outer diameter greater than the outer diameter of the thread, the anchor having at least one opening formed in the anchor for engaging a driver, the method comprising the steps of:
forming a hole in bone; engaging both the head and the cannula of the tissue anchor with a tissue anchor driver; and installing the headed tissue anchor through tissue and into the hole formed in the bone such that the head of the tissue anchor engages the tissue and fixates the tissue to the bone as the anchor is turned and advanced into the bone.
- 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the step of forming the hole in bone includes tapping threads in the side of the hole for accepting the threads of the tissue anchor.
- 15. The method of claim 13, wherein the step of forming the hole in bone comprises the steps of:
installing a guide pin into the bone; advancing a cannulated tap over the guide pin; and turning the cannulated tap into the bone to form the hole.
- 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising the steps of:
removing the cannulated tap from over the guide pin; and advancing the anchor over the guide pin to the hole formed in the bone.
- 17. The tissue anchor of claim 1, wherein the cannula of the tissue anchor and the pin of the driver having corresponding hexagonal shapes.
- 18. The tissue anchor of claim 1, wherein a thickness of the thread at the outer edge of the thread increases proximally along a portion of the thread.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/469,177, filed Dec. 21, 1999, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/118,788, filed Feb. 4, 1999, and is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/954,206, filed Oct. 20, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,214,031, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/905,393, filed Aug. 4, 1997, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/023,011, filed Aug. 5, 1996. This application also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/212,830, filed Jun. 21, 2000.
Provisional Applications (3)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60118788 |
Feb 1999 |
US |
|
60023011 |
Aug 1996 |
US |
|
60212830 |
Jun 2000 |
US |
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
08905393 |
Aug 1997 |
US |
Child |
08954206 |
Oct 1997 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09469177 |
Dec 1999 |
US |
Child |
09882057 |
Jun 2001 |
US |
Parent |
08954206 |
Oct 1997 |
US |
Child |
09882057 |
Jun 2001 |
US |