Patent ID: 8162980
Filing Date: 2012-04-24
Classification: A61B,A61F

Abstract:
1. An apparatus for identifying and guiding a surgeon during a re-entry surgery to a site of a spinal column at which corrective surgery has previously taken place, the spinal column including a first vertebral body and, a second vertebral body, the apparatus comprising: an elongate relatively thin flexible guide having a width and a length between first and second ends, the first end being couplable to the first vertebral body with a first attachment mechanism and to the second vertebral body with a second attachment mechanism, the second end spaced away from the spinal column towards an entry incision, the elongate flexible guide having a first intermediate fold between the first and second ends, the first intermediate fold being along the width of the guide so that when implanted the fold is oriented generally parallel to a cranial-caudal direction of the spinal column; and at least one of: (i) one or more visual indicia, and (ii) one or more machine readable indicators, operable to assist a surgeon in locating the guide before and during the re-entry surgery, the at least one of the one or more visual indicia and one or more machine readable indicators extending from the second end toward the first end, wherein the visual indicia includes an array of arrows extending from the second end of the guide towards the first end such that the surgeon may dissect along the guide toward the site during the re-entry surgery.