Patent ID: 7406899

Claim:
A device for automatically feeding a series of medical fasteners to a location for mating with a rotary fastener driver and for placement of each of said series of medical fasteners into tissue or bone structure to hold said tissue or bone structure together, comprising: a driver body, a powered screw driver positioned within the driver body, a fastener carrier system removable from and attachable to the driver body and means for positioning and advancing the individual fasteners of the series of medical fasteners in a controlled manner to a position to receive a driving tip on the powered screw driver, the medical fastener comprising a screw having a head with a recess therein for receiving the tip of the screw driver, the head of the screw and the tip of the screw driver having interlocking structures such that, once the tip is inserted in the recess in the screw head the screw is carried by the driver tip until intentionally dislodged, the recess further including one or more structures therein or thereon which interact with mating structures on the driver tip to transmit rotary motion of the driver tip to the screw, wherein the recess in the screw head has a depth suitable to receive the tip of the screw driver, an inner side wall extending from an upper edge of the recess to a lower edge of the recess, at least a portion of the inner side wall having a peripheral length greater then the length of the periphery of the upper edge, the tip of the screw driver having an enlargement thereon, the tip configured so that the enlargement can be pushed into the recess in the screw head and lodge within said portion of the inner wall.