Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US20060173457?dq=patent:+7360079
Timestamp: 2017-12-12 22:56:23
Document Index: 697528176

Matched Legal Cases: ['art.\n5', 'art 43', 'art 43', 'art 6', 'art 6', 'art 4', 'arts 6', 'art 4', 'art 4', 'art 4', 'arts 61', 'arts 6']

Patent US20060173457 - Humeral nail - Google Patents
This nail (2) comprises a body (4) that can be inserted into the medullary canal (108) of the humerus (100), this body (4) comprising a proximal part with housing orifices into which interlocking devices (22) such as screws will be inserted to interlock initially split humeral fragments (106 1-106 3),...http://www.google.com/patents/US20060173457?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US20060173457 - Humeral nail
Publication number US20060173457 A1
Also published as DE602006001114D1, EP1685803A1, EP1685803B1, US7608075
Publication number 11340615, 340615, US 2006/0173457 A1, US 2006/173457 A1, US 20060173457 A1, US 20060173457A1, US 2006173457 A1, US 2006173457A1, US-A1-20060173457, US-A1-2006173457, US2006/0173457A1, US2006/173457A1, US20060173457 A1, US20060173457A1, US2006173457 A1, US2006173457A1
Patent Citations (72), Referenced by (68), Classifications (8), Legal Events (5)
US 20060173457 A1
This nail (2) comprises a body (4) that can be inserted into the medullary canal (108) of the humerus (100), this body (4) comprising a proximal part with housing orifices into which interlocking devices (22) such as screws will be inserted to interlock initially split humeral fragments (106 1-106 3), and a locking device (6) capable of locking the said interlocking means (22), this locking device (6) being free to move relative to the body (4).
The locking device (6) comprises several openings (61), each of which comprises a free passage part (6 11) extending in front of a corresponding orifice (4 4) in the free passage position, and a locking part (6 12), the walls of which can stop in contact with a corresponding interlocking device (22), in the locking position.
1. Humeral nail comprising an elongated body that can be at least partially inserted into the medullary canal of the humerus, this body comprising a proximal part with housing orifices into which interlocking devices such as screws will be inserted to interlock initially split humeral fragments, this nail also comprising a locking device, capable of locking the said interlocking devices, this locking device being free to move relative to the body between a free passage position of the interlocking devices, in which this locking device enables free passage of these interlocking means through the said orifices, and a locking position of the interlocking devices in which this locking device blocks these interlocking devices with respect to the walls of these orifices, characterised in that the locking device comprises different openings, each of which comprises a free passage part extending towards a corresponding orifice in the free passage position, and a locking part, the walls of which can come into abutment with a corresponding interlocking device in the locking position.
2. Humeral nail according to claim 1, characterised in that the through dimensions of each free passage part are greater than the through dimensions of the interlocking devices, while the through dimensions of locking parts decrease opposite each free passage part such that surfaces facing the interlocking devices are capped and locked in position.
3. Humeral nail according to claim 2, characterised in that the said orifices are circular in shape and each opening comprises a circular part substantially the same diameter as a corresponding orifice, and a locking slot, the cross-section of which decreases towards the closed end of this slot.
4. Humeral nail according to claim 1, characterised in that the proximal part, provided with the said housing orifices is cylindrical in shape while the locking device is also cylindrical in shape and has a slightly greater or slightly smaller diameter than the said proximal part such that it can slide relative to this proximal part, inside or outside this proximal part.
5. Humeral nail according to claim 4, characterised in that this locking device is mobile axially with respect to the proximal part along at least one main axis of this proximal part, between the said free passage position and the said locking position.
6. Humeral nail according to claim 1, characterised in that this nail also comprises means for moving the locking device towards its locking position, and interlocking this locking device in this locking position.
7. Humeral nail according to claim 6, characterised in that moving and interlocking means comprise a cylindrical cap capable of coming into abutment with the cylindrical locking device in its locking position, and a device for keeping this cap in contact with this locking device.
8. Humeral nail according to claim 7, characterised in that the device acting as a stop is a screw, that can penetrate into an inner volume of the cap and cooperate with a tapped thread in the body, a head of this screw keeping the cap in contact with the locking device.
9. Humeral nail according to claim 1, characterised in that this nail also comprises means for locking the locking means in the locking position, relative to the body.
10. Humeral nail according to claim 9, characterised in that the interlocking means of the locking device relative to the body comprise a notch formed in this locking device, this notch comprising two housings separated by a neck with a smaller through dimension, these two housings being capable of selectively housing a stud provided on the body.
A nail of this type, for example like that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,472,444, comprises an elongated body that will be inserted in the medullary canal of the humerus. This body is hollowed out with various drillings, through which screws can pass to mutually interlock the nail and this humeral shaft.
The first step in placing this nail is to place the sheath inside the body of this nail, and then making the screws penetrate through the various orifices formed in the body and in the sheath respectively. The sheath is then moved along the main axis of the body so as to interlock the screws using the walls of the orifices in the sheath, which stop in contact with the surfaces facing the screws.
However, this alternate solution has disadvantages. In particular, the reliability of the attachment of this nail in the humerus is not always satisfactory.
Consequently, its purpose is a humeral nail comprising an elongated body that can be at least partially inserted into the medullary canal of the humerus, this body comprising a proximal part with housing orifices into which interlocking devices such as screws will be inserted to interlock the initially split humeral fragments, this nail also comprising a locking device capable of locking the said interlocking devices, this locking device being free to move relative to the body between a position in which the interlocking devices are free to move, in which this locking device enables free passage of these interlocking means through the said orifices, and a locking position of the interlocking devices in which this locking device locks these interlocking devices relative to the walls of these orifices, characterised in that the locking device comprises several openings, each of which comprises a free passage part extending in front of a corresponding orifice in the free passage position, and a locking part, the walls of which can stop in contact with a corresponding interlocking device, in the locking position.
The invention will be better understood and other advantages will become clearer after reading the following description of an embodiment of a humeral nail according to its principle, given simply as a non-limitative example with reference to the attached drawings in which:
FIG. 1 shows a humeral nail according to the invention, denoted as a whole by reference 2. This nail will be used to consolidate a fracture that occurred at a humerus 100 that includes a shaft 102 and a head 104, in a manner known in itself. The initially split fragments 106, to 1063 of this humerus, for which the nail 2 according to the invention is used for consolidation, can also be seen.
As shown particularly in FIG. 2, the nail 2 according to the invention comprises firstly an elongated body 4 with a straight stem shape. This body 4, that will be inserted into the medullar canal 108 of the humerus, is provided with a tapered tip 41 at its distal end. Furthermore, two through holes 42 are formed in its median part, through which screws 20 will pass. These screws interlock this body 4 relative to the humeral shaft 102, in a known manner.
This body 4 is provided with a proximal part 43 opposite the tip 41 which is cylindrical in shape and has a circular cross-section. This proximal part is hollowed out with three through orifices 44 that are circular in shape, and are arranged one vertically in line with each other. These orifices may advantageously be offset at angles from each other in pairs according to the information given in U.S. Pat. No. 5,472,444.
The humeral nail according to the invention also comprises a sheath 6 open at both its ends that is visible particularly in FIG. 3. This sheath 6 that is cylindrical in shape has a slightly greater diameter than the proximal part 43 of the body 4. Thus, this sheath 6 is free to slide around the external surface of this proximal part.
Three through openings 61 pass through the sheath 6, the locations of which correspond approximately to the locations of the orifices 4 4. As shown more precisely in FIG. 3 that shows the orifices 4 4 and the openings 6 1 side by side, the openings have a circular part 6 11, the diameter of which corresponds approximately to the diameter of the orifices 4 4. This circular part 6 11 is prolonged by an elongated slot 6 12, the cross-section of which decreases towards the closed end (in other words the upper end) of this slot.
As shown particularly in FIGS. 5 and 6, the sheath 6 is also hollowed out with a notch 6 2 that opens up at its lower end in these figures, namely towards the tip 4 1 of the body 4. This notch defines two housings 6 21 and 6 22 that are oval and circular in shape respectively, separated by a neck 6 23 with a smaller through dimension. The lower circularly-shaped housing 6 22 is prolonged by a canal 6 24 opening up at the lower end of the sheath 6.
Furthermore, the body 4 is provided with a stud 4 5 with a substantially circular section with through dimensions globally corresponding to the dimensions of the housings 6 21 and 6 22. As will be seen in the following, this stud 4 5 can fit selectively into either of these two housings 6 21 and 6 22.
The objective is firstly to add the sheath 6 around the proximal part 4 3 so that the orifices 4 4 coincide with the circular parts 6 11 of the openings 6 1. The assembly formed from this body 4 and this sheath 6 is then inserted into the medullary canal 108 of this humerus 100 in a manner known in itself. As a variant, the body 4 can be inserted into the medullary canal 108 first, and the sheath 6 can then be added around the proximal part 4 3. Furthermore, the stud 4 5 of the body 4 fits into the lower housing 6 22 of the notch 6 2 formed in the sheath 6, which corresponds to the layout in FIG. 5.
Under these conditions, it is possible to pass interlocking screws 22 through the orifices 4 4, the interlocking screws being visible particularly in FIGS. 1 and 4. As is known particularly from U.S. Pat. No. 5,472,444, these screws 22 are used to interlock the initially fractured fragments 106 1 to 106 3, in order to consolidate them.
More precisely, the cap 8 is added around the proximal part 4 3 of the body 4, the screw 10 is inserted in the inner volume of this cap 8, and this screw is then made to cooperate with an inner thread not shown formed in the proximal part 4 3 of the body 4. This screwing of the screw 10 contributes to moving the cap 8 and consequently the sheath 6 along the main axis of the body 4, which is materialised by the arrow F in FIG. 4.
Therefore it can easily be seen that the head 10 1 of the screw 10 then forms a stop for the cap 8 such that the cap is immobilised axially relative to the body 4. Consequently, this cap 8 also contributes to axially locking the sheath 6 with respect to this body 4.
When the displacement mentioned above of the sheath 6 with respect to the body 4 is terminated, the circular parts 61, are no longer coincident with the orifices 4 4, and the walls of the slots 6 12 then bear in contact with the surfaces facing the screws 22. The walls of these slots 6 12 then act as a stop for the screws 22 and prevent any movement of the screws, particularly an unscrewing movement. The circular parts 6 11 thus form free passage parts for the screws, while the slots 6 12 form parts locking these screws.
It can be imagined that in the position shown in FIG. 6, the sheath 6 is locked with respect to the body 4. The presence of the neck 6 23 with a small through dimension prevents the stud 4 5 from moving back towards the lower housing 6 22, unless a large force is applied on the sheath 6. Consequently, this measure prevents any unexpected movement of the sheath 6 with respect to the body 4. It should be noted that the screws 6 22 are not shown in FIG. 6, for reasons of clarity.
Thus, the sheath 6 extending outside the body 4 can be replaced by a locking device installed free to slide inside this hollow body. This locking device has a smaller diameter and is also provided with openings through which the interlocking screws 22 can be selectively locked.
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