Surgery – Diagnostic testing – Detecting nuclear – electromagnetic – or ultrasonic radiation
Patent
1997-10-30
1999-09-28
Jaworski, Francis J.
Surgery
Diagnostic testing
Detecting nuclear, electromagnetic, or ultrasonic radiation
600459, A61B 800
Patent
active
059578475
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF ART
This invention relates generally to methods and apparatuses for detecting a foreign body existing within a medullary cavity. More particularly, this invention relates to a method and apparatus adapted to detect a lateral locking hole formed in an intramedullary nail inserted within a medullary cavity. For example, when conducting an osteosynthetic operation to mend a fractured bone, an intramedullary nail is inserted inside a bone medulla and thereafter a lateral locking hole of the intramedullary nail is detected to thread thereinto a thread screw for fixation between the bone and the intramedullary nail.
PRIOR ARTS
The osteosynthetic methods for mending a fractured bone involve one method that merely implants an intramedullary, or bone, nail within a medulla to fix the bone. There exists another method of fixing an intramedullary nail to a bone, wherein a hole is opened in a bone by drilling from the above of a skin in a manner aiming at a lateral locking hole of an intramedullary nail implanted within a medulla in order to thereby fix a thread screw between the bone and the intramedullary nail.
In the latter case, a targeting device 1 (illustrated by an apparatus manufactured by ACE Company) as shown in FIG. 18 and FIG. 19 is utilized. With the targeting device 1, an X-ray 2 is radiated to a lateral locking hole 4 of an intramedullary nail 3 so as to monitor by X-ray imaging the lateral locking hole, or otherwise the location of a lateral locking hole is determined in a freehand manner under transillumination by an X-ray. Specifically, the ACE-make apparatus of FIG. 19 adopts a method that a guide sheath 6 is allowed to slide in a direction perpendicular to an axis of a femur 7 (FIG. 8) so that the guide sheath 6 can be fixed in position by means of a screw 8 (8').
With such targeting device 1, the amount of X-ray exposure is lessened and the fixation of the thread screw to the intramedullary nail is simplified, as compared with the conventional case where a lateral locking hole is located in a freehand manner under X-ray transillumination.
However, the utilization of the targeting device 1 is less successful, despite a reduced amount of exposure as compared to the method of determining the position of a lateral locking hole in a freehand manner under X-ray transillumination. This is because the guide sheath 6 provided at an end portion of the targeting device 1 is apt to delicately deviate relative to the location of the lateral locking hole after inserting the intramedullary nail 3 into the medulla. It is considered the cause of this deviation is attributable to a curvature in the intramedullary nail 3 due to a curvature in the femur or a flexture in the targeting device 1. Note that it is to be considered that expansion, shrinkage, and twist in the intramedullary nail 3 is negligible. Meanwhile, there also exists an extremely significant health problem caused by X-ray exposure 2 to a patient in the present and the future as well as the exposure to hands of a doctor who conducts many operations. In particular, the operation of detecting a location of an intramedullary nail from the above the skin requires several minutes of X-ray radiation for locating one hole (usually at two locations). Therefore, a great amount of X-ray exposure occurs not only to the doctor but also the patient. Under such situations, a demand exists for a surgical method that is free from the worry of X-ray exposure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus which is capable of detecting a foreign body, such as of a metal or a ceramic, within a bone medullary cavity, in a manner free from ray exposure.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus that can detect the position of a lateral locking hole of an intramedullary nail in a manner free from ray exposure.
A method for detecting a foreign body within an intramedullary cavity according to the invention, comprises the following steps: (a) scanning a
REFERENCES:
patent: 3721227 (1973-03-01), Larson et al.
patent: 4819621 (1989-04-01), Veberle et al.
patent: 5235981 (1993-08-01), Hascoet et al.
Minakuchi Yoshihisa
Numoto Hideki
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