Patent ID: 7481815

Claim:
A radiolucent aiming arm for determining the location of a transverse hole in an implanted intramedullary nail, comprising: an elongated body constructed substantially of radiolucent material, wherein the elongated body includes a first longitudinal axis, a front surface, a back surface, at least one transverse hole intersecting the front and back surfaces and defining a central hole axis, the elongated body having a first end configured and adapted for releasable attachment to a proximal end of the intramedullary nail; and at least a first radiopaque target marker positioned on a portion of the front surface at a second end of the elongated body and at least a second radiopaque target marker positioned on a portion of the back surface at the second end of the elongated body, the first radiopaque target marker having a different shape than the second radiopaque target marker wherein the first and second radiopaque target markers are configured and dimensioned to indicate that an X-ray beam is coplanar with a plane defined by the central hole axis of the aiming arm and a second longitudinal axis of the intramedullary nail, prior to any distortion caused by insertion of the nail into bone.