U.S. patent application number 10/454856 was filed with the patent office on 2004-01-08 for tools and method for processing and injecting bone graft material.
This patent application is currently assigned to The Spineology Group, LLC. Invention is credited to Kuslich, Stephen D., Peterson, Francis C..
Application Number | 20040006348 10/454856 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 22536185 |
Filed Date | 2004-01-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20040006348 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Peterson, Francis C. ; et
al. |
January 8, 2004 |
Tools and method for processing and injecting bone graft
material
Abstract
A tool for processing an supplying bone graft material in
individual tubes for later extrusion into the surgical site
includes a pneumatic press and plunger to morselize and fill a
plurality of fill tubes. The fill tubes are then used at the
surgical site by pressing the bone material out with a push
rod.
Inventors: |
Peterson, Francis C.;
(Prescott, WI) ; Kuslich, Stephen D.; (Stillwater,
MN) |
Correspondence
Address: |
VIDAS, ARRETT & STEINKRAUS, P.A.
6109 BLUE CIRCLE DRIVE
SUITE 2000
MINNETONKA
MN
55343-9185
US
|
Assignee: |
The Spineology Group, LLC
Stillwater
MN
|
Family ID: |
22536185 |
Appl. No.: |
10/454856 |
Filed: |
June 4, 2003 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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10454856 |
Jun 4, 2003 |
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09645422 |
Aug 24, 2000 |
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6620169 |
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60150835 |
Aug 26, 1999 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
606/93 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61F 2/4644 20130101;
A61F 2002/2835 20130101; A61F 2002/4635 20130101; A61F 2002/4694
20130101; A61F 2/4601 20130101; A61B 17/00234 20130101; A61B
17/8833 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
606/93 |
International
Class: |
A61B 017/58 |
Claims
1. A tool for filling tubes with bone graft material comprising:
(a) a pneumatic cylinder and plunger constructed and arranged to
travel within a housing that includes an access port into which
bone graft material may be tamped into a channel that the plunger
reciprocates within; and (b) a fill tube attached to said housing
and in fluid communication with said channel such that movement of
said plunger causes material within said channel to fill said fill
tube.
2. An elongated hollow cylindrical tube of less than about 12
inches (30.5 cm) in length and having an internal bore diameter of
between about 0.01" (0.25 mm) to about 0.03" (0.76 cm), said tube
having a distal end and a proximal end, said distal end including a
coupling member for attaching the tube in line within a filling
device, said tube being filled with a bone graft material.
3. The tube of claim 2 wherein the internal bore diameter increases
gradually from the proximal to the distal end.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/150,835 filed
Aug. 26, 1999.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
[0002] Not Applicable.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] This invention relates to a tool for preparing bone graft
material by loading it into multiple tubes that may then be
injected into a site needing bone graft material.
[0004] Bone graft material is typically harvested from a portion of
a patient's body, such as a hip, and are used in repair procedures
in another site, such as in fusing adjacent vertebra. Cheung et al,
in the British Journal of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, Volume
35, pages 267-270 (1997) describe a bone graft condensing syringe
system which uses a metal syringe, a plugger and a screw on cap
along with a metal filling funnel to provide bone graft. Marx &
Wong describe the use of a plastic syringe in J. Oral Maxillofacial
Surgery, Volume 45, at pages 988-989 (1987) which compacts the bone
graft material. A scalpel is required to cut off the needle end of
the syringe to extrude out the graft material. Lambert et al., in
Journal of Oral Maxillofacial Surg., pages 773-774 (1994) describe
a syringe system employing a vented steel disc at the hub end of
the syringe. The syringe is filled with bone, compressed with a
plunger and extruded out with a steel rod through the hub which
pushes out the disc and bone.
[0005] A series of Bonutti patents, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,329,846;
5,545,222; 5,662,710 and 5,888,219 deal with a bone preparation
system that uses a press to remove fluid from human tissue and
insert the human tissue back into the person. The tissue may be
bone.
[0006] The art described in this section is not intended to
constitute an admission that any patent, publication or other
information referred to herein is "prior art" with. respect to this
invention, unless specifically designated as such. In addition,
this section should not be construed to mean that a search has been
made or that no other pertinent information as defined in 37 C.F.R.
.sctn. 1.56(a) exists.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The invention provides a tool into which bone graft material
is inserted. A ram in the tool fills tubes with the bone graft
material. The filled tubes are then used to deploy bone graft
material where needed with a second tool pressing the graft
material out of the tubes. The tool and fill tubes provide the
surgeon with prefilled tubes of known volume for surgical
procedures which may be readily extruded into the surgical
site.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] A detailed description of the invention is hereafter
described with specific reference being made to the drawings in
which:
[0009] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the bone processing
tool;
[0010] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the bone processing tool of
the invention exploded;
[0011] FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the bone processing
tool with parts cut away to show showing the tamper loading in
bone;
[0012] FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the bone processing
tool with parts cut away to show showing the plunger filling a fill
tube with bone;
[0013] FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the fill tube
holder;
[0014] FIG. 5a is a partial enlarged view of the fill tube holder
of FIG. 4 showing bone pushed into the fill tube by the
plunger;
[0015] FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the plunger and
plunger rod; and
[0016] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the plunger.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0017] Many surgical procedures involve the use of bone graft
material.
[0018] Depending on the surgery, the bone graft material may simply
be harvested and placed into the situs with little difficulty.
However, many procedures require relatively accurate placement of a
known volume of morselized bone into the site, such as with in U.S.
Pat. Nos. 5,571,189 and 5,549,679 to an expandable fabric bag for
stabilizing the spinal motion segment and various cages such as
shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,489,308; 5,059,193 to Kuslich; U.S. Pat.
No. 4,501,269 to Bagby and U.S. Pat. No. 4,743,256 to
Brantigan.
[0019] It has been found that bone graft media tends to jam tubes
when the tubes are larger in diameter. Thus, while it is possible
to fill a syringe with bone material, the end must be cut off to
access the bone material. This cutting step can cause an unwanted
injury unless performed very carefully.
[0020] Any taper in a fill tube will tend to cause a channel
blockage, even if very high hydraulic pressures are applied.
Strangely, the inventors have discovered that too large a diameter
allows plugs to form. Smaller tubes have less wall surface area and
require less pressure to fill.
[0021] The fill tubes are preferably short enough to handle easily,
the preferred length should be about 11" (27.94 cm) or less. A
0.014" (0.355 mm) diameter tube has an area of 0.010 sq. inches
(6.4 mm.sup.2), a circumference of about 0.76" (1.93 cm) and 50
pounds (22.7 kg) of hand pressure results in 5000 psi (34,473 kPa)
within the tube. In contrast, a larger 0.025" (0.635 mm) diameter
fill tube has a circumference of 1.57" (3.988 cm), and area of
0.049 sq. inches (31.6 mm.sup.2) and 50 pounds (22.7 kg) of hand
pressure results in 1020 psi (7,032 kPa). There is a relationship
between force to diameter, diameter to friction, with length
increasing friction.
[0022] The fill tubes distal ends are either entirely open or have
a tool that mates with a specific cage to be filled. The proximal
end of the fill tubes has a fixture for holding and securing to the
filling tube device. The tubes inside diameter may be constant or
slightly flared greater distally such that the diameter increases
gradually from the proximal to the distal end. Otherwise, the bone
material forms arches of particles, generating arch bridge-like
strength causing the material to jam. Slots in the filling tool
allows debris to fall back out from the filling process. Starting
friction is overcome by pneumatic pressure, with air couplings to
the piston providing the force to move the bone material into the
fill tubes.
[0023] The ability to prepare a number of known volume tubes with
bone material that will not jam provides a great advantage to the
surgeon. They may be prepared ahead of time and may be used one
after the other until the procedure is completed. The fill tubes
provide a means for safely and quickly delivering a known quantity
of bone material to a specific site. A push rod may be used to
eject the bone material from the fill tubes into the surgical site
by the surgeon.
[0024] With reference to the Figures, FIG. 1 shows the bone
processing tool 10 with a fill tube 12 attached. The bone
processing tool 10 includes a pneumatic cylinder 14 and piston 20
which is driven by an air supply and control through attachments
16, 18. The controls of the air supply are completely conventional
and need not be illustrated herein. The cylinder 14 drives a piston
20 back and forth, which in turn moves plunger 22 and plunger rod
24 back and forth within chamber 26 of housing 30. Housing 30
includes a region 32 in which bone graft material 34 may be
inserted into a narrow slot 38 that leads to a small channel 36
into which plunger rod 24 moves. A bone graft tamper 40 with a tab
42 sized to mate with slot 38 may be used to tamp the bone material
into the channel 36. The fill tubes are attached to the proximal
end of the tool via a fill tube holder 44. The fill tubes 12 have
an elongated shaft and a flared distal end 46 which mates with a
receptacle 48 in the fill tube holder 44.
[0025] In operation, a new fill tube 12 is attached to the tool 10,
bone graft material 34 is tamped into slot 38 down into channel 36
by tamper 40 and the cylinder is cycled to cause the plunger to
push the bone material into the fill tube. The process is repeated
until the fill tube 12 is filled, which may be determined by
observing bone graft exiting the proximal end of the fill tube
12.
[0026] While this invention may be embodied in many different
forms, there are shown in the drawings and described in detail
herein specific preferred embodiments of the invention. The present
disclosure is an exemplification of the principles of the invention
and is not intended to limit the invention to the particular
embodiments illustrated.
[0027] This completes the description of the preferred and
alternate embodiments of the invention. Those skilled in the art
may recognize other equivalents to the specific embodiment
described herein which equivalents are intended to be encompassed
by the claims attached hereto.
* * * * *