Surgery – Instruments – Orthopedic instrumentation
Reexamination Certificate
2001-09-10
2004-09-21
Priddy, Michael B. (Department: 3732)
Surgery
Instruments
Orthopedic instrumentation
Reexamination Certificate
active
06793657
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a spine fixing apparatus capable of suitably fixing an unstable spine caused by a fracture or disease by adjusting angle and width between rods of the apparatus according to a curvature shape of the spine, and simplifying assembly process thereof so as to reduce overall assembly time.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, when a spine is fractured or diseased, the spine must be fixed. As such, a number of methods for fixing unstable spine have been developed. Among them is to place the spine as it were and fix it with a spine-fixing device. Typically, the spine-fixing device has two rods arranged along the spine so as to be fixed with screws thereon and connectors bridging the rods for fixing each other such that the spine is supported by the rods.
In the conventional spine fixing device, however, the screws are coupled to the spine integral with the rods and the two rods are fixedly coupled each other using the connectors such that the connector cannot be adjusted in a lateral and vertical directions thereby failing to fix the spine in the suitable position.
Furthermore, since the connector has a fixed length, the connector cannot bridge the two rods when the distance or angle between the rods are changed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made in an effort to solve the above problems.
It is an object of the invention to provide a spine-fixing apparatus capable of reliably fixing the unstable spine, caused by a fracture or disease, by adjusting distance and angle between rods, which arranged along the spine, of the fixing-apparatus according to a shape of the spine.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a spine fixing-apparatus which enables each fixing nut to correctly fastened with the upper end of each spine screw member thereby preventing any erroneous coupling therebetween.
It is further another object of the present invention to provide a spine-fixing apparatus capable of simplifying installation process and reducing overall installation time as well as reliable installation by integrally forming a screw portion of a spine screw member, a supporting member for supporting a rod, and a cover for the supporting member of the spine-fixing apparatus.
To achieve the above objects, a spine-fixing apparatus of the present comprises a plurality of spine screw members fixed to a spine in a predetermined interval, a pair of rods coupled to the spine screw members for supporting the spine, a plurality of fixing nuts coupled to the spine screw members, and a plurality of pressing pieces interposed between the fixing nuts and the spine screw members for pressing and fixing the rods.
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Ahn Seayoung
Choi Sung Pil
Kim Cheol Sang
Lee Choon Ki
Moon Duc Soo
Birch & Stewart Kolasch & Birch, LLP
Solco Biomedical Co., Ltd.
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