Patent ID: 8162943

Claim:
A system for stabilizing a fractured bone having an intramedullary canal, the system comprising: a selectively deformable implant having an elongated shape with a proximal end and a distal end, the implant comprising a polymer having a glass transition temperature greater than 37 degrees Celsius, a first thermo-chemical state above the glass transition temperature wherein the polymer is relatively deformable, a second thermo-chemical state below the glass transition temperature wherein the polymer is relatively rigid, the polymer being responsive to heating above the glass transition temperature to transform from the second thermo-chemical state to the first thermo-chemical state and responsive to cooling below the glass transition temperature to transform from the first thermo-chemical state to the second thermo-chemical state, the polymer permitting multiple transitions between the thermo-chemical states, the polymer being responsive in the first thermo-chemical state to a deforming force to expand from a first form to a second form which conforms to a shape of a surrounding portion of the intramedullary canal, the polymer, being responsive to cooling to transform to the second thermo-chemical state to maintain the second form in a relatively rigid configuration able to provide torsional, axial, and bending reinforcement to the fractured bone sufficient to promote healing of the fractured bone; and an implant deformer configured to be removably coupled to the proximal end of the deformable implant to deform the deformable implant from the first form to the second form.