Patent ID: 7846162
Filing Date: 2010-12-07
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. A lockable bone fixation device for treatment of an elongate bone, the bone having an intermedullary space extending along the bone, the bone having a fracture and an access opening traversing the intermedullary space at a placement angle, the fixation device comprising: a sleeve having a first end and a second end and defining a sleeve axis extending between the first end and the second end, the sleeve being flexible in a plane along the sleeve axis and having an outer surface suitable for axial advancement into the intermedullary space, a guidewire lumen extending along the sleeve axis; a guidewire receivable within the guidewire lumen, the guidewire axially advanceable through the access opening and into the intermedullary space so that a bend of the guidewire extends between the access opening and the intermedullary space; and an actuable lock comprising an actuator disposed on the first end and a tooth, the tooth movable between an un-deployed configuration and a deployed configuration by articulation of the actuator, the tooth in the un-deployed configuration disposed adjacent the outer surface of the sleeve, the tooth in the deployed configuration extending radially outwardly from the outer surface of the sleeve so as to secure the sleeve within the intermedullary space of the bone, the actuable lock accommodating axial flexing of the sleeve when the tooth is in the un-deployed configuration so as to allow the sleeve to be guided by the bend of the guidewire during axial advancement of the sleeve into the intermedullary space, wherein the sleeve is sufficiently flexible so that the lockable bone fixation device is anatomically conformable, wherein flexing of the sleeve is accommodated by bearing surfaces distributed along the sleeve axis within the sleeve, and wherein articulation of the actuator imposes an axial load on the bearing surfaces so as to stiffen the lockable fixation device when the tooth is in the deployed configuration such that fixation of the fracture is effected.