Patent ID: 8070753

Claim:
A system for treating bone, comprising: a bone cement injector having a flow channel extending therethrough for injecting bone cement into an interior of a bone; a source of bone cement coupled to said flow channel; an energy source coupled to a thermal energy emitter in the flow channel configured to apply energy to the bone cement to controllably increase the viscosity of the bone cement within the flow channel; a sensor that provides a measurement of a parameter of the bone cement within the flow channel, wherein the parameter is selected from the group consisting of impedance, temperature, viscosity, and volume; and a controller detachably coupled to the thermal energy emitter, the controller including algorithms that adjust power delivery from the energy source to the thermal energy emitter based at least in part on measurements from the sensor, wherein the controller controls the energy source to alter the bone cement to a viscosity in a range of at least about 1,000,000 cps sufficient to controllably permeate and interdigitate with cancellous bone.