Bone fixation system

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(12) United States Patent

Cachia et al.

(io) Patent No.: US 7,008,428 B2 (45) Date of Patent: Mar. 7,2006

(54) BONE FIXATION SYSTEM

(75) Inventors: Victor V. Cachia, San Juan Capistrano, CA (US); Gerard von Hoffman, Coto de Caza, CA (US); Brad S. Culbert,

Rancho Santa Margarita, CA (US)

(73) Assignee: Triage Medical, Inc., Irvine, CA (US)

( * ) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.

(21) Appl. No.: 10/440,016

(22) Filed: May 16, 2003

(65) Prior Publication Data

US 2004/0010257 Al Jan. 15, 2004

Related U.S. Application Data

(60) Continuation of application No. 09/815,263, filed on Mar. 22, 2001, now Pat. No. 6,632,224, which is a continuation-in-part of application No. 09/558,057, filed on Apr. 26, 2000, now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of application No. 09/266,138, filed on Mar. 10, 1999, now abandoned, which is a division of application No. 08/745,652, filed on Nov. 12, 1996, now Pat. No. 5,893,850.

Int. CI.

A61B 17/56 (2006.01)

U.S. C I 606/72

Field of Classification Search 606/53,

606/60, 63, 68, 72, 75, 104; 411/43, 450, 411/34, 35, 37, 38, 46, 48 See application file for complete search history.

References Cited
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

(51)

(52) (58)

(56)

2,077,804 A 4/1937 Morrison

2,121,193 A * 6/1938 Gustav 606/65

2,485,531 A * 10/1949 Dzus et al 606/73

Disclosed is a bone fixation device of the type useful for connecting soft tissue or tendon to bone or for connecting two or more bones or bone fragments together. The device comprises an elongate body having a distal anchor thereon. A proximal anchor is axially movably disposed with respect to the distal anchor, to accommodate different bone dimensions and permit appropriate tensioning of the fixation device. In one embodiment, the fixation device is optimized for construction from a biocompatible metal such as titanium, and the proximal anchor is removable to permit removal of the fixation device.

3 Claims, 7 Drawing Sheets