Patent ID: 7229451
Filing Date: 2007-06-12
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. A skull clamp for rigidly holding the skull of the patient during surgery comprising: a C-shaped frame to partially encircle the head of the patient, the frame having first and second ends adapted to be located on opposite sides of the skull of the patient; a pin assembly located at a first end of the frame and oriented in alignment with an axis which, when in use, extends through the head of the patient and through the second leg of the C-shaped frame, said assembly holding a single skull pin and being adjustable relative to the first end of the frame to enable an operator to selectively determine the force applied to the skull of the patient by the corresponding single skull pin; a rocker arm located at a second end of the frame, the first and second ends of the frame being aligined along an axis bisecting the skull of the patient and the rocker arm being rotatable relative to the axis; and a pair of spaced skull pins mounted in a spaced relation on the rocker arm and adapted to engage and hold the skull of the patient opposite the single skull pin, each of said pair of spaced skull pins operatively contacting an indicator, each of the indicators being movable in non-alignment with the axis and relative to the respective spaced skull pin along a direction parallel to the orientation of the respective spaced skull pin in response to the engagement force applied by the skull of the patient to the respective spaced skull pin, thereby to provide an indication of the load distribution of the engagement forces on said pair of spaced skull pins.