1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to orthopaedic instruments, and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method of attaching an orthopaedic reamer to an orthopaedic driver.
2. Description of the Related Art
Orthopaedic reamers and drivers may be used to prepare the acetabulum for hip joint prosthesis. A rotary tool provides the motive force and is connected to the driver which is connected to the reamer. The drivers generally have a shaft and a reamer end. Reamers are generally hemispherical in shape and attach to the reamer end at the base of the hemisphere. The interior portion of the reamer is known as the debris cavity.
Connecting the driver reamer end to the reamer is known to include attachment of the driver to the base of the reamer. The reamer base can include various backing plates, crossbars and pins which the driver grips. In manufacturing such a reamer, the hemispherical shell can be deep drawn and then assembly of the reamer base to the backing plate, etc. is required. Therefore, this type of design requires multiple production steps including labor and cost intensive methods such as welding, grinding and polishing. Another disadvantage of known mounting methods includes the cost and time to manufacture the various backing plates, etc.
In use, the designs discussed above are problematic in that backing plates and the like mounted to the reamer base block the debris cavity. Such mounting techniques also have surfaces which do not have line of sight access, being blocked by either the hemispherical shell or a surface of the backing plate, thereby making the reamer difficult to clean and sterilize. Given the fact that these instruments are required to be sterile before use and are used in a sterile field (the operating room), every precaution must be exercised in cleaning the instruments, which makes a difficult cleaning procedure time intensive.
When the reamer is used to prepare the acetabulum for hip joint prosthesis, variation in the size of the acetabulum for the human population requires a range of sizes of acetabular reamers, a specific size of the acetabular reamer being determined by the hip joint size of the person undergoing hip joint prosthesis. The different sizes of acetabular reamers are generally specified by different radii of curvature, or diameters, of the hemispherical shell. Some of the known methods of mounting reamers to drivers, because of the attachment of the base of the reamer to the driver, and therefore a dependency on the reamer diameter, require modifications to the driver or different drivers for different size reamers. This increases the cost of a tool set that can accommodate a wide range of hip joint size.
What is needed in the art is apparatus and method of attaching a reamer to a driver that provides ease of manufacturing the reamer, minimizes or eliminates the debris cavity blockage, is suitable for easy and thorough cleaning and sterilization and in which a single driver can be used for a range of reamer sizes.
The present invention provides a reamer and driver wherein the driver attaches to the inside, or concave, surface of the reamer.
The invention comprises, in one form thereof, an orthopaedic reamer assembly including a reamer with a generally hemispherical shell having a concave side and at least one attachment feature associated with the concave side. A driver is attachable to the reamer. The driver includes a shaft with a reamer end. The reamer end is removably attached to at least one attachment feature.
An advantage of the present invention is an orthopaedic reamer assembly including a single piece reamer that is relatively easy and cost effective to manufacture.
Another advantage of the present invention is an orthopaedic reamer assembly that minimizes or eliminates the debris cavity blockage.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is an orthopaedic reamer assembly suitable for easy and thorough cleaning and sterilization.
A further advantage of the present invention is an orthopaedic reamer assembly wherein a single driver can be used for a range of reamer sizes.
The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of this invention, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and the invention will be better understood by reference to the following description of embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. The exemplifications set out herein illustrate one preferred embodiment of the invention, in one form, and such exemplifications are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner.
Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to
Reamer 22 includes hemispherical shell 26 with a thin wall 29 which has a concave side 30 and a convex side 31, and at least one attachment feature 27 formed in thin wall 29, at least one attachment feature 27 protruding on concave side 30 (
Driver 24 includes shaft 50 connected to reamer end 52. Shaft 50 is a generally elongate cylindrical shape with connective features 51 opposite reamer end 52. Reamer end 52 includes releasable collar 53 with sleeve 54 fitted over boss 64. Biasing element 58 is mounted in cavity 60. Biasing element 58 is shown in
Sleeve 54 includes a ring-shaped end 69 with at least one groove 68 located proximate to at least one retaining pin 66 in boss 64. In the embodiment shown, there are three grooves 68 and three retaining pins 66 corresponding to three attachment features 27. Groove 68 is complimentary in shape to indent 28 of attachment feature 27. As shown particularly in
Boss 64 includes ring 63 defining ring hole 65 therein. Boss 64 further includes open area 67.
To attach reamer 22 with driver 24, reamer 22 is positioned proximate to driver 24 with attachment feature 27 approximately aligned with retaining pin 66 and groove 68 as shown in
Surgical debris (not shown) can exit orthopaedic reamer assembly 20 between boss 64 and concave side 30 or through ring 63 and open area 67. All exposed surfaces in both reamer 22 and driver 24 have line of sight access facilitating easy and thorough cleaning and sterilization.
Single piece reamer 22 is relatively easy and cost effective to manufacture. Driver 24 facilitates quick and convenient attachment of reamer 22. A single driver 24 can be used for a range of reamer sizes. The design of both reamer 22 and driver 24 minimizes or eliminates the debris cavity blockage during surgical procedure and cleaning and sterilization.
While this invention has been described as having a preferred design, the present invention can be further modified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains and which fall within the limits of the appended claims.
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/338,479, filed on Jan. 8, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,875,217.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20050085821 A1 | Apr 2005 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 10338479 | Jan 2003 | US |
Child | 10987266 | US |