PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 16165259
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2018-10
Publication Date: 2019-02
Patent Classification: ["606", "232000"]

Abstract:
Described herein is a simplified placement system and method for a tissue graft anchor by which a surgeon may introduce one or more sutures into a socket in a boney tissue, apply a precise amount of tension to the sutures to advance a soft tissue graft to a desired location, and then advance the anchor into the socket, preferably while maintaining the requisite pre-determined suture tension and without introducing spin to the suture. Alternate embodiments of the anchor placement system and method of the present invention may forego tensioned sutures in favor of direct engagement with the soft tissue graft, whereby an end or a portion of the graft is trapped between an outer surface of the anchor and the boney surface of the wall of the socket such that friction force between the inserted portions of graft and socket maintains the position of graft relative to socket and bone. In either case, particularly preferred embodiments allow for the one-handed operation. To that end, embodiments in which relative axial movement between the inner tensioning device and outer driver device is optionally physically constrained, for example by means of cooperating and/or compressive elements disposed in the respective hub and handle portions, are described herein.

Claim (Index 1):
An implant placement system for affixing a soft tissue graft to a prepared socket in a boney surface via a cannulated anchoring implant, said system comprising:\n a. a cannulated driver device comprising a proximal handle portion having an open proximal end, an elongate tubular distal portion that defines the longitudinal axis of the system and includes an open distal end configured to receive said implant, and at least one driver lumen extending from said open proximal end to said open distal end; b. an elongate insertion device that includes a rigid distal portion configured to engage a portion of said soft tissue graft; and c. an axial control assembly having a first constrained configuration and a second free configuration; wherein:\n i. said insertion device is slidably received within said at least one lumen of said driver device and the proximal end of said driver device handle portion is engaged to said elongate insertion device; \n ii. when said axial control assembly is in said first constrained configuration, the distal end of said rigid distal portion of said elongate insertion device extends distally past the distal end of said implant when coupled to said driver device so as to enable said insertion device distal end to engage said soft tissue graft and relative axial movement between said driver device and said insertion device is precluded; and \n iii. when said axial control assembly is in said second free configuration, the driver device and implant move axially in a distal direction along the length of said rigid distal portion of said insertion device to thereby drive said implant into said socket while the insertion device is maintained in a fixed position.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 1.0
- Percentile: 97.0
- Lexical Diversity: 1.99074
- Patent Class: 606.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: open
- Component Type: 1
- Foreign Priority: False
- Related Applications: ['15256838', '15698048', '15256815', '15012060', '15429527']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.876892133106855
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.7132373741343557
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.8605266572096051
- Mean Citation Score: 797.944492
- Max Citation Score: 817.9354
- Similarity Product: 797.3359984848022

Labels:
- Claim Label 101: 1
- Claim Label 102: 0
- Claim Label 103: 1
- Claim Label 112: 1
- Combined Label: 0
- Label 101 Adjusted: 1

Dataset: test