Patent ID: 6019769
Filing Date: 2000-02-01
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
A method of performing angular distraction osteogenesis of a human mandible comprising:(a) segmenting a human mandible such that the segmented mandible has a first side and a second side;(b) drilling a bone-pin hole into the bone on the first and second sides of the segmented mandible;(c) inserting bone-pins into the bone-pin holes drilled into the segmented mandible;(d) attaching at least one bone-pin on the first side of the segmented mandible to a first arm of a distraction device;(e) attaching at least one bone-pin on the second side of the segmented mandible to a second arm of the distraction device; and(f) angularly adjusting at least one of the two arms of the distraction device with respect to the other of the two arms in a slow, controlled and precise manner by rotating at least one of a first gear having a first gear radius about a first axis of rotation and a second gear having a second gear radius about a second axis of rotation so that the bone portion on the first side of the segmented mandible is angularly moved in relation to the bone portion on the second side of the segmented mandible, wherein first and second axes of rotation are nonparallel and the shortest distance between the axes of rotation of the first and second arms is less than the sum of the first gear radius and the second gear radius.