Patent ID: 9084636
Filing Date: 2015-07-21
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. A surgical plate system, said system comprising: a plate having an anterior surface, a posterior surface, side surfaces substantially perpendicular to portions of said anterior surface joined by said side surfaces, a longitudinal axis, and a transverse axis; wherein said plate comprises a pair of openings-arranged side by side along a direction of said transverse axis extending through said anterior and posterior surfaces; a first opening of said pair having a first axis defining a direction in which said first opening extends from said anterior face to said posterior face, and a second opening of said pair having a second axis defining a direction in which said second opening extends from said anterior face to said posterior face, wherein said first and second axes are medially inclined towards one another and angled relative to said respective side surfaces, such that said first and second axes converge toward one another in a direction from said anterior surface to said posterior surface; a variable fastener configured and dimensioned to connect to said plate, said variable fastener comprising a first head and a first shaft extending distally from said first head, wherein said first head is configured to assume different proximal end diameters, wherein said first head, in a first configuration allows inward flexing to reduce a diameter of said first head to allow said first head to pass through a first entrance opening of said first opening, and wherein in a second configuration, said first head is prevented from flexing inwardly thereby preventing said first head from backing out of said first entrance opening, while allowing articulation of said first head, within said first opening, relative to said plate, and wherein a trajectory angle of said variable fastener can change relative to said plate even after said variable fastener has been torqued into a bone and upon completion of installation of said fastener and plate, and wherein said variable fastener is provided with a variable cam that interacts with a protrusion on an inner surface of said head, said variable cam including a notch in a cam surface of said variable cam configured to mate with said protrusion, wherein in said first configuration, said protrusion is separated from a portion of said cam by a first distance that allows said inward flexing sufficient to reduce said diameter of said head to allow said head to pass through said first entrance opening of said first opening, and wherein in said second configuration, said protrusion of said head snaps into said notch, thereby preventing said head from flexing inwardly and preventing said head from backing out of said first entrance opening, wherein, in said second configuration, said head is maintained in an unstressed configuration, where said head is neither flexed inwardly nor outwardly; and a fixed fastener configured and dimensioned to connect to said plate, said fixed fastener comprising a second head and a second shaft extending distally from said second head, wherein said second head is configured to assume different proximal end diameters, and wherein said second head, in a first configuration allows inward flexing to reduce a diameter of said second head to allow said second head to pass through a second entrance opening of said second opening, and wherein in a second configuration, said second head is flexed outwardly, thereby preventing said second head from backing out of said second entrance opening and also compressing said second head against inner side walls of said plate surrounding said second opening, thereby preventing articulation of said second head, within said second opening, relative to said plate.