Patent ID: 7291177

Claim:
An acetabular prosthesis system to replace an acetabulum that allows trialing for a shell component, comprising: an acetabular prosthesis defining an attachment portion including a thread; a trial shell defining an orientation portion and operable to be selectively oriented relative to said acetabular prosthesis in at least two degrees of freedom including a first degree of freedom that is rotationally around an axis and a second degree of freedom that is along a guide portion relative to said axis; and a connection mechanism to selectively fix said trial shell relative to said acetabular prosthesis, including a member having an attachment end and an engagement end; wherein said attachment end of said member operably engages said attachment portion; and wherein said engagement end operably engages said orientation portion; wherein said member operably interconnects said trial shell and said acetabular prosthesis to create a plurality of determined orientations including at least one trial orientation by being selectively fixed in the at least one trial orientation relative to said acetabular prosthesis; wherein said member includes a screw having a threaded shank and a head portion; wherein said threaded shank and said attachment portion cooperate to draw said head portion against said trial shell such that said head portion applies a force to fix said trial shell in one of the determined orientations.