Patent ID: 11903620
Assignee: MEDOS INTERNATIONAL SARL
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 4:
5. A method for securing a bone screw to bone, comprising:
attaching a flexible sleeve to a head of a bone screw such that the sleeve extends proximally from the bone screw, wherein the attaching step comprises advancing the bone screw through a guide channel defined by the sleeve until a distal surface of the head contacts an attachment ring at a distal end of the sleeve, wherein the attachment ring defines an inner diameter that is less than a maximum diameter of the head;
inserting a driver into a socket defined by the head of the bone screw, wherein the driver is disposed in the guide channel of the sleeve while the driver resides in the socket;
advancing the bone screw through soft tissue to a fixation site of the bone;
rotating the driver about a central axis, thereby driving a shaft of the bone screw into the fixation site, wherein the sleeve extends through the soft tissue and a proximal end of the sleeve is located ex vivo;
inserting an extension member from the proximal end of the sleeve ex vivo and advancing the extension member distally through the guide channel until the head of the bone screw resides in a receptacle defined within an anchor head at a distal end of the extension member; and
after inserting the extension member, applying a tensile force to the sleeve, thereby expanding the attachment ring for decoupling the sleeve from the bone screw.