Coupling plate for spinal correction and a correction device of using the same

A coupling plate assembly for spinal correction includes a central rod, a clamping tube having a truncated conical head sized to receive the central rod, an integrally formed step, and a threaded inner periphery defining a hole on the step for a screw to extend therethrough and clamp the central rod, and a plate having two slots each extending from a distal end toward a center portion of the plate and a channel perpendicular to an interconnection axis of the slots with a groove for receiving the clamping tube.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a correction device for spine, and 
particularly to a coupling plate assembly for the posterior spinal 
correction of a human being. 
A conventional bone correction method for spine, which are in scoliosis or 
kyphosis, is either to apply Harrington Hooks on the laminae of the 
vertebrae or to execute a Luque Sublaminal Wiring thereby securing the 
vertebrae in place. However, such a correction method merely provides a 
correction of lateral direction, i.e., two dimensional correction. A C-D 
spinal instrumentation has a three dimensional correction, however, such a 
correction method is merely applied at one side of the spine, and thus 
strength applied on the spine is not balanced. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
An object of the present invention is to provide a coupling plate which may 
easily cooperate with transpedicle screws and/or various hook assemblies 
to correct the deformed spine. 
According to the present invention, the coupling plate assembly for spinal 
correction includes a central rod a clamping tube having a truncated 
conical head sized to receive the central rod, an integrally formed step, 
and a threaded inner periphery defining a hole on the step for a screw to 
extend therethrough and clamp the central rod, and a plate having two 
slots each extending from a distal end toward a center portion of the 
plate and a channel perpendicular to an interconnection axis of the slots 
with a groove for receiving the clamping tube. 
Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will become 
more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in 
conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring to FIG. 1, a coupling plate assembly 10 for spinal correction 
includes an arcuate plate 11, two slots 12 each extending from a distal 
end toward a center portion of the plate 10 with grooved edges 14 on inner 
walls of the slots 12, a central rod 30, a clamping tube 40 with a 
truncated conical head 42 sized to receive the central rod 30 and an 
integrally formed step 44 having a threaded inner periphery defining a 
hole 46 which communicates with an inner wall space of the tube 40 for a 
screw 50 to extend therethrough and clamp the central rod 30, and a 
channel 16 perpendicular to an interconnected axis of the slots 12 with an 
opening 18 for receiving the clamping tube 40. 
A transpedicle screw assembly cooperating with the coupling plate 10 of 
FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. 2. The transpedicle screw assembly includes a 
transpedicle screw 60 with a hole 62 defining in a head 61 of the screw 60 
and two recesses 67 for engaging with the slot of the plate 10 and a 
threaded portion 63 formed near the head thereof, a cap nut 64 for 
engaging with the threaded portion 63 of the screw 60, two nuts 65, 66 
respectively provided on entrances of the hole 62, and a threaded shaft 68 
threaded with the nuts 65, 66 so that a position of the transpedicle screw 
60 may be adjusted by turning the nuts 65, 66. 
Referring to FIG. 3, two transpedicle screws 60 are driven into the 
vertebral body 100 via respective pedicle 102 and coupled with a coupling 
plate 10, the central rod 30 is received within the clamping tube 40 and 
clamped by the screw 50, and the threaded shafts 68 have respectively 
extended through the nut 65, the hole 62 on the transpedicle screw 60, and 
the nut 66 (not shown). 
Referring to FIG. 4, two coupling plate assemblies are respectively mounted 
onto two vertebrae with one central rod 30 and two threaded shafts 68 
connected therebetween so that a three-dimensional correction may be 
achieved by adjusting the nuts 65, 66 and the central rod 30. 
However, such a transpedicle screw 60 can only be applied onto a lumbar 
spine but is not suitable for a vertebra, which has a small volume, such 
as a thoracic spine, as the transpedicle screw may possibly damage a 
pedicle of the vertebrae. 
Referring to FIG. 5, a hook assembly and a coupling plate 10 for applying 
onto a thoracic spine is shown. The hook assembly includes a threaded 
shaft 68, a nut 65, a transverse process hook 80, a tubular piece 86, a 
pedicle hook 70, a socket 90, and a nut 98 sequentially engaged with the 
threaded shaft 68. The coupling plate 10 has a plurality of notches 15 
formed on surfaces defining the grooved edges 14. 
The socket 90 is of a conical shape having a threaded inner periphery 
defining a hole 92 in combination with a screw 94 for clamping the 
threaded shaft 68 within the socket 90 when the hook assembly is 
assembled. A notched area 96 is formed on a location radially-opposite to 
the hole 92 for engaging with the notches 15 on the coupling plate 10 
thereby increasing the stability of the hook assembly when assembled. 
The pedicle hook 70 includes a U-shaped hook 72 defining a concave surface 
sized to cradle an inferior particular process (not shown) and a coupling 
body 74 attached to a wall of the hook 72 via an engaging piece 76 having 
a dimension to be received within the slot 12 of the coupling plate 10. 
The coupling body 74 has a conical chamber 78 perpendicular to an axis of 
the concave surface of the U-shaped hook 72 for marginally receiving the 
socket 90, a groove 79 defined on a wall of the body 74 in communication 
with the conical chamber 78, and a depression 75 defined on a top surface 
of the coupling body 74 in communication with the conical chamber 78 for 
engaging with the tubular piece 86. 
The transverse process hook 80 includes a block 81 having an aperture 82, a 
tongue 84 protruding from the body 81 for forming a concave surface facing 
the U-shaped hook 72 (in FIG. 5) to cradle a transverse process 106 of a 
vertebral body 100 as shown in FIG. 6. Referring back to FIG. 5, the 
aperture 82 has an enlarged depression edge (not shown) at a bottom of the 
block 81 for engaging with the tubular piece 86. 
The nut 98 is provided under the socket 90 for engaging with the threaded 
shaft 68. The nut 65 cooperates with the nut 98 for tightly securing the 
socket 90, the pedicle hook 70, the tubular piece 86, and the transverse 
process hook 80 on the threaded shaft 68. The size of the tubular piece 86 
may be changed corresponding to the size of the vertebra 70 until a 
suitable size of tubular piece 86 is achieved. 
Referring to FIG. 7, the coupling plate 10 is in cooperation with a 
transpedicle screw 60 and a laminal hook 36 to correct the deformed spine. 
Alternatively, the coupling plate 10 may cooperate with a transpedicle 
screw 60 and a pedicle hook. For the briefness of the specification, this 
modification is not shown. 
A plurality of hook assemblies in combination with a corresponding number 
of coupling plates 10 is shown in FIG. 8. The spine can be corrected by 
turning the nuts 65 and 98 and adjusting the central rod 30. 
Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred 
embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications 
and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of 
the invention as hereinafter claimed.