Abstract:
A multi-positional dual drill guide for use in orthopedic surgical procedures provides two independent drill guides which are independently, pivotally and removably secured along a pivotal drill guide plate comprising two separate and independent guide plate sections, selectively aligning each of the two drill guides for drilling an intersecting bone channel into a common bone from different locations for the passage of a suture and associated tissue during an orthopedic repair of a joint. The drill guide provide for three dimensional movement of the drill guides to provide a range of drilling angles from nearly zero degrees up to 180-degrees apart and in a three dimensional array, the drill.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     None 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of Invention 
     A multi-positional dual drill guide for use in orthopedic surgical procedures during an orthopedic repair of a joint, cartilage, bone or associated soft tissues, provides two independent drill guide to properly align a pair of holes being drilled into a common bone from different locations to intersect and form a common channel for the passage of a suture and associated tissue during an orthopedic repair of a joint wherein the suture or other repair material is passed through the bone tunnels with specially designed tools that work in conjunction with the drill guide. 
     2. Description of Prior Art 
     A preliminary review of prior art patents was conducted by the applicant which reveal prior art patents in a similar field or having similar use. However, the prior art inventions do not disclose the same or similar elements as the present full range multi-positional bone drill guide, nor do they present the material components in a manner contemplated or anticipated in the prior art. 
     In a first set of patents of prior art, singular drill guides are disclosed having a first fixed leg which defines a positioning guide, while a drill guide is adjustably affixed to an arched pathway to set the drill guide at a desired angle with the positioning guide. These patent include U.S. Pat. No. 6,342,056 to Mac-Thiong, U.S. Pat. No. 6,120,511 to Chan, U.S. Pat. No. 5,688,284 to Chervitz, U.S. Pat. No. 5,562,644 to Durlacher, U.S. Pat. No. 7,833,230 to Cerundolo, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,940 to Bourque. Three pending patent application have been published indicating a similar fixed indicator or pin with an adjustable drill guide, including U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2011/0166581 to Van Der Merwe (Jul. 7, 2011), 2010/0121337 to Pandya (May 13, 2010), and 2003/0216742 to Wetzler (Nov. 20, 2003). In U.S. Pat. No. 4,672,957 to Hourahane, a single drill guide in shown providing a bracket of approximately 180 degree with a first support engaged upon the arced bracket providing a tubular drill guide, and a second support upon which a probe is located, the probe defining a pointed tip, which is visible to a surgeon during a repair to the knee joint, the pointed tip inserted to the desired depth into the knee joint. 
     There is a published patent application, U.S. Patent Application No. 2008/0103506 to Volpi, which indicates a dual drill guide mechanism with a first fixed drill guide and a second adjustable drill guide on curved support extending between the first and second guide members with the first and second drill guides being offset such that the axis of the guide members do not intersect. It also has a support arm in another embodiment and mated to the first guide member to mark the termination of the first drill guide passage. The support does not disclose a means of providing an angle to the support member allow the first and second drill guide to not only slide along the support member up to 180 degrees, but also up to 90 degrees in a perpendicular plane. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In orthopedic surgical procedures involving ligament or soft tissue repair, it is common practice to drill a channel in a bone from two locations which result in a complete and intersection bone channel through a segment of the bone. As seen previously, there are numerous bone drill guides in the prior art which furnish a single drill guide associated with a location probe which requires the drilling of a first bone channel and subsequent placement of the probe at a location wherein the second bone channel is drilled with the intent that the first and second bone channels intersect or that a terminal end of the bored bone channel can be predicted. Some of these prior art drill guides have a stationary probe with a drill guide movable along a two dimensional plane and upon a fixed arced plate, with some having both a movable probe and a movable drill guide in combination. However, none of them have a dual drill guide, nor do any of them contemplate a three dimensional capability for placement of two independently movable drill guides targeting a common intersecting point with the drill guides being aimed at the same time and drilled one after the other without movement of either drill guide resulting in a common and complete bone channel. 
     The present dual drill guide provides a pivotal guide plate with two guide plate sections pivotally connected at a pivot joint by a set screw allowing for a pivotal setting of between zero and one hundred eighty degrees with the pivotal joint providing complete separation of the two guide plate sections and also providing a locked and fixed position of each guide plate section at a location selected by the surgeon. In addition, each guide plate section provides an arced plate with a central sliding channel with independently sliding drill guide base members having anchor screws to secure each sliding drill guide base members at a location along each respective guide plate, each drill guide base member having a drill guide retained within a directed drill guide channel by a drill guide retaining screw providing an adjustable depth for each drill guide, the sliding drill guide base members being slidable along their respective guide plates to provide drill guide angles between ten degrees and one hundred eighty degrees within a three dimensional realm. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The following drawings are submitted with this utility patent application. 
         FIG. 1  is an upper perspective view of the dual drill guide showing drill bits inserted within the two drill guides. 
         FIG. 2  is a lower perspective view of the dual drill guide. 
         FIG. 3  is an upper perspective view of the dual drill guide with the joint bent at a right angle. 
         FIG. 4  is an upper view of the dual drill guide in a flat embodiment with the tube anchor spikes of the drill guide tube imbedded within the bone and having the drill bits inserted into a target bone with the penetrating portions of the drill bit, the bone tunnels and the transosseous channel shown in phantom line. 
         FIG. 5  is an end view of the dual drill guide with the tube anchor spikes of the drill guide tube directed upon the surface of the bone and having the drill bits as would be inserted into a bone, shown in phantom line with the joint bent at a ninety degree angle. 
         FIG. 6  is an exploded view of the components defining the dual drill guide along with a pair of drill bits. 
         FIG. 7A  is a close-up view of the tapered end of a drill guide tube defining the at least two tube anchor spikes. 
         FIG. 7B  is a close-up view of the at least two tube anchor spikes of the tapered end of the drill guide tube imbedded within the bone with the drill bit and the bone tunnel shown in phantom line. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     A three dimensional axis dual drill guide  10 , as disclosed in  FIGS. 1-7B  of the drawings is used to align and bore two intersecting bone tunnels C within a bone B through two independent bone drill guides  100  contemporaneously set and positioned at locations upon a target bone to drill a transosseous channel D within the target bone for the further passage of a suture during a joint, cartilage, bone or associated soft tissue repair operation, the drill guide  10  further comprising a first guide plate  20  defining a flat circular arc, a joint end  22 , a terminal end  24  and a central arced slide groove  25 , a second guide plate  30  defining a flat circular arc, a joint end  32 , a terminal end  34  and a central arced slide groove  35 , each respective joint end pivotally connected by a joint  40  which can be disconnected, pivoted at an angle between 20 degrees and 180 degrees, and also secured to maintain an angle between the first guide plate  20  and the second guide plate  30  by a joint securing means  47 , each first and second guide plate  20 ,  30  further providing a first and second slidable guide anchor  60  defining a lower slide trough  62  slidably engaging a respective first and second guide plate  20 ,  30  and being locked into an independent selected position along each respective guide plate  20 , between said joint end  22 ,  32  and said terminal end  24 ,  34  within said central arced slide groove  25 ,  35  by an anchor locking means  70 , each slidable guide anchor  60  further defining an upper tangential drill guide channel  80  and a drill guide locking means  90  which secures a respective drill guide tube  100  within each respective guide channel  80  by the drill guide locking means  90 ,  FIGS. 1 and 5 , each respective guide channel  80  directing a fixed relative angle between the respective drill guide tubes forming an angle of between 210 degrees and 20 degrees, the drill guide tube  100  through which bone drill bits A may be inserted to drill the intersecting bone channels B. 
     The joint  40  is further disclosed in  FIG. 6  as having a first joint member  42  with a threaded extension  43  attached to the joint end  22  of the first guide plate  20 , and a second joint member  44  forming an extension clip  45  which engages the threaded extension  44  of the first joint member  42 , with the joint securing means  47  further defining a locking cap  48  which is threadably engaged upon the threaded extension  43 , the locking cap  47  rotated to allow the joint  40  to be locked in place, allowing the joint  70  to move about an angle between 20 and 180 degrees, or further rotated to allow the first guide plate  20  and second guide plate  30  to be separated by the removal of the extension clip  45  from the threaded extension  43 . Each first and second joint member  42 ,  44  may be respectively secured to the first or second guide plates  20 ,  30  using joint attaching screws  49  which attach independently through each respective first and second joint member  42 ,  44  into the respective first and second joint ends  22 ,  32  of each respective first and second guide plate  20 ,  30 ,  FIG. 6 . 
     Each slidable guide anchor  60  may further define the lower slide trough  62  having an inner rail  64  and an outer rail  66 ,  FIG. 2 , each lower slide trough  62 , inner rail  64  and outer rail  66  conforming to the arced contour of each first and second guide plate  20 ,  30 , sliding freely upon each guide plate  20 ,  30 , with each lower slide trough  62  further defining a lower threaded bore  68  into which the anchor locking means  70  may be secured to lock each guide anchor  60  at a desired location upon the guide plate  20 ,  30 . The anchor locking means  70  may be further disclosed as a lower locking screw  72  having a threaded extension  74  engaging the lower threaded bore  68  of the guide anchor  60  through the respective central arced slide groove  25 ,  35  of each guide plate  20 ,  30 ,  FIG. 2 , the lower locking screw  72  having a head  75  which is rotated to lock or release the guide anchor  60  from a selected position to be moved to another. 
     Each guide anchor  60  also may further define the drill guide locking means  90 ,  FIG. 1 , having an upper channel block  92  with an extension arm  94  positioned above the drill guide channel  80 ,  FIG. 5 , the extension arm  94  providing a central lock screw bore  96  within which is inserted a lock screw  98  which is rotated to retain or release the drill guide tube  100  inserted within the drill guide channel  80  in a position desired prior to drilling a bone tunnel B through each drill guide tube  100  with a drill bit A. Each upper channel block  92  may be secured to the guide anchor  60  by removable block anchor screws  99 ,  FIG. 6 . 
     The drill guide tube  100  as contemplated for use within the dual drill guide  10  and as disclosed in  FIGS. 1-7B  of the drawings, is the type of drill guide tube  100  which defines a central bore  102  and has a tapered end  104  which is directed towards the target bone B, with a standard surgical bone drill bit A, also disclosed in  FIGS. 1-7B  of the drawings, being directed through the central bore  102  of the drill guide tube  100  out the tapered end  104 . The drill guide tube  100  should be of a sufficient strength the withstand the pressure of being secured between the drill guide channel  80  and the drill guide locking means  90  without deforming the drill guide tube  100  during use and most preferably, repeated use. The drill guide tube  100  further defines at least two tube anchor spikes  105 ,  FIG. 7A , defined within the tapered end  104  of the drill guide tube  100 . As shown in  FIG. 7B , these at least two tube anchor spikes  105  are tapped into the bone B at the location upon the bone B where the respective bone tunnels C are to be drilled to anchor the drill guide tube  100  within the bone B once the bone tunnel C placement has been determined by the surgeon prior to the application of the drill guide locking means  90 . These at least two tube anchor spikes  105  prevent any skipping of the drill bit A when the drilling of the bone B is commenced and secures the target location on the bone B, stabilizing the drill guide  10  during use. The drawing figures show four tube anchor spikes  105  on the tapered end  104  of the drill tube  100 , but the actual number of tube anchor spikes  105  can be as few as two. 
     It is further contemplated that the dual drill guide  10  could be supplied with a fixed positioning device which could retain the dual drill guide  10  at an external location once the dual drill guide is set to the drill angles upon the target bone location. With this additional fixed positioning device, the dual drill guide  10  may be equipped with a connecting apparatus to join with the fixed positioning device. It is also noted that the embodiment shown in the drawing figures is a best mode presentation based upon the known success of the dual drill guide  10  in prototype and anticipated use, with the dual drill guide materials suited for repeated use, post surgical clean-up and sanitization, and also for the replacement of parts when they become worn or broken. In this regard, the presentation of the dual drill guide  10  would be of stainless steel or other biocompatible metal suitable for use in an open surgical procedure. 
     It is the intent of the dual drill guide  10  to be used as indicated above for the contemporaneous positioning of two intersecting bone tunnels C without having to reposition the drill guide, as seen in the various prior art single drill guides, and to maintain the position of the two drill guide tubes  100  for assured intersection regardless of the positioning of the drill guide tubes  100  upon the guide plates  20 ,  30  of the dual drill guide  10 ,  FIGS. 1-5 . In furtherance of this intent, the use of the dual drill guide  10  would require preparation of the surgical site to expose the target bone location for the occurrence of the transosseous channel for a surgical repair. Once the site is prepared, the dual drill guide  10  is positioned over the prepared site and the first drill guide tubes  100  (or either of drill guide tube, because a designation of a first and second drill guide tube is irrelevant at this point) is positioned along the corresponding guide plate where the drill guide tube is aligned with the intended first bone tunnel C. The first and second guide plates  20 ,  30  are then secured at the appropriate selected angle to position the second drill guide tube  100  at a position and location with the intended second bone tunnel C, with the dual drill guide  10  maintaining the drill guide tubes  100  in intersecting relationships regardless of the relevant positions along the first and second guide plates  20 ,  30 . Once established and set, the drill guide tubes  100  provide the fixed selected position of the two drill guide tubes  100  for the drilling of the two bone channels C by the drill bits A to form the appropriate transosseous channel D within the target bone B to ensure a complete intersecting pathway of the two drilled bone tunnels C to complete the portion of the surgery and the passage of a suture through the transosseous channel C within the target bone B. Upon completion, the surgeon may remove the dual drill guide  10  or reposition the dual drill guide  10  for a second drilling location. This dual drill guide  10  is forseen as providing a useful tool in shoulder, knee and other joint repair surgeries. 
     Therefore, a method for using the dual drill guide  10  as disclosed would include the steps of preparing a location for a joint repair by exposing a target bone, positioning the drill guide above the target bone, setting each first and second drill guide tubes at a desired angle and position upon the target bone, drilling each bone tunnel using a drill bit to form the intersecting transosseous channel, using specially prepared suture passing instruments to insert and pass the repair sutures through the prepared holes and completing the joint repair using the steps known in the art of orthopedic surgery for the joint repair, the dual drill guide providing the angle drill tubes to drill two independent bone tunnels forming the transosseous channel within the bone a desired depth without requiring the repositioning of the dual drill guide upon the bone. 
     While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.