Device and method to prevent hip fractures

{
  "publication_number": "US2010023012A1",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "A1",
  "title": "Device and method to prevent hip fractures",
  "abstract": "A device for preventing a hip fracture includes: a shaft having a first end and a second end and an expanding means for engaging the femoral head at the first end. The shaft is positioned in a hole of a predetermined depth in a femur. The hole extends from the greater trochanter to the femoral head of the femur, such that the first end is positioned in the femoral head and the second end is positioned in the greater trochanter. The device is oriented substantially perpendicular to the long axis of the femoral shaft.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A device for preventing a hip fracture, comprising: a shaft having a first end and a second end, wherein the shaft is positioned in a hole of a predetermined depth in a femur, which is characterized, in part, by a femoral head, a greater trochanter, a femoral neck, and a femoral shaft, said hole extending from the greater trochanter to the femoral head, such that the first end of the shaft is positioned in the femoral head and the second end is positioned in the greater trochanter; and an expanding means for engaging the femoral head at the first end; wherein the device is oriented along a generally horizontal axis that is substantially perpendicular to a long axis of the femoral shaft.",
    "2. The device as recited in claim 1, in which said hole terminates near an axis defining a normal load-bearing vector of the femur.",
    "3. The device as recited in claim 1, in which a portion of the shaft is adjacent to a superior wall of the femoral neck.",
    "4. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein said expanding means is a plurality of fluted portions located near the first end, and wherein each of the plurality of the fluted portions is expanded and flared outward into surrounding bone in the femoral head as the device is advanced beyond a distal end of said hole, thus fixing a position of the device within the femur.",
    "5. The device as recited in claim 4, wherein the shaft includes a tubular structure, and the fluted portions near the first end of the tubular structure are integral with and form a side wall of the tubular structure.",
    "6. The device as recited in claim 5, and further comprising an end cap with a flared circumferential surface for assisting the fluted portions in expanding and flaring outward into the surrounding bone as the device is advanced beyond the distal end of said hole.",
    "7. The device as recited in claim 5, and further comprising a plurality of molly bolt-like portions located near the second end, wherein each of the plurality of molly bolt-like portions is expanded outward into surrounding bone of the greater trochanter.",
    "8. The device as recited in claim 7, in which the shaft further includes a screw having a threaded portion, and wherein the tubular structure defines a screw-receiving channel with corresponding and mating threads, such that the screw is inserted into the tubular structure and received in the screw-receiving channel, with rotation of the screw relative to the screw-receiving channel advancing the screw and forcing the molly bolt-like portions near the second end to expand outward into surrounding bone.",
    "9. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein the shaft includes a tubular structure and a screw having a threaded portion for engaging a screw-receiving channel defined by the tubular structure, and wherein said expanding means is a plurality of expanding molly bolt-like portions located near the first end of the device, such that the screw is inserted into the tubular structure and received in the screw-receiving channel, with rotation of the screw relative to the screw-receiving channel advancing the screw and forcing each of plurality of molly bolt-like portions to expand outward into surrounding bone.",
    "10. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein said expanding means includes: a plurality of rods surrounding the shaft; a first end cap located at the first end of the shaft; and a plurality of links, each said link connecting one of the plurality of rods to the first end cap, with each said link being pivotally connected to the first end cap at one end about a pivot axis; wherein, when the device is positioned in said hole, each of the plurality of rods is advanced towards the first end of the shaft, causing the respective link to rotate about the respective pivot axis, such that there is a controlled flaring of each rod into surrounding bone.",
    "11. The device as recited in claim 10, in which each said link defines a cavity near its opposite end for receiving a distal end of one of the rods, such that when of the plurality of rods is advanced towards the first end of the shaft, the distal end of the respective rod presses into the cavity defined by the respective link, causing the respective link to rotate about the respective pivot axis.",
    "12. The device as recited in claim 10, and further comprising a sleeve for maintaining the positioning of the rods relative to the shaft.",
    "13. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein said expanding means includes: a plurality of rods surrounding the shaft; a first end cap located at the first end of the shaft and having a flared circumferential surface; wherein, when the device is inserted said hole, each of the plurality of rods is advanced towards the first end of the shaft, a distal end of the respective rod contacts the flared circumferential surface of the first end cap, which forces each rod outward into surrounding bone.",
    "14. The device as recited in claim 13, and further comprising a sleeve for maintaining the positioning of the rods relative to the shaft.",
    "15. The device as recited in claim 13, and further comprising second end cap at the second end of the device, said second end cap having a second flared circumferential surface, and said second end cap defining a screw-receiving channel for receiving a threaded portion of the shaft, such that, as the second end cap is rotated to advance toward the first end cap, the second flared circumferential surface of the second end cap engages the rods, forcing the rods outward and into surrounding bone at the second end.",
    "16. A device for preventing a fracture in a femur, which is characterized, in part, by a femoral head, a greater trochanter, a femoral neck, and a femoral shaft, the device comprising: a shaft having a first end and a second end, wherein the shaft is positioned in a hole of a predetermined depth in the femur, said hole extending along a generally horizontal axis from the greater trochanter to the femoral head and terminating near an axis defining a normal load-bearing vector of the femur, such that the first end is positioned in the femoral head and the second end is positioned in the greater trochanter; and an expanding means for engaging the femoral head at the first end.",
    "17. A method for preventing a fracture in a femur, which is characterized, in part, by a femoral head, a greater trochanter, a femoral neck, and a femoral shaft, comprising the steps of: forming a hole of a predetermined depth in the femur, said hole extending along a generally horizontal axis from the greater trochanter to the femoral head; positioning a device that includes a shaft having a first end and a second end in said hole, with the first end positioned in the femoral head and the second end positioned in the greater trochanter, and the device further including an expanding means for engaging the femoral head at the first end; and manipulating the device to expand said expanding means outward into surrounding bone.",
    "18. The method as recited in claim 17, in which said hole terminates near an axis defining a normal load-bearing vector of the femur.",
    "19. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein the shaft includes a tubular structure, wherein said expanding means is a plurality of fluted portions located near the first end of the tubular structure that are integral with and form a side wall of the tubular structure, and wherein the step of manipulating the device is achieved by using a driving tool to advance the device into the femoral head beyond a distal end of said hole, thus expanding the fluted portions into surrounding bone.",
    "20. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein the shaft includes a tubular structure and a screw having a threaded portion for engaging a screw-receiving channel defined by the tubular structure, wherein said expanding means is a plurality of molly bolt-like portions located near the first end of the device, and wherein the step of manipulating the device is achieved by rotating the screw relative to the screw-receiving channel, thus advancing the screw and forcing each of plurality of molly bolt-like portions to expand outward into surrounding bone.",
    "21. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein said expanding means includes a plurality of rods surrounding the shaft, a first end cap located at the first end of the shaft, and a plurality of links, each said link connecting one of the plurality of rods to the first end cap, with each said link being pivotally connected to the first end cap at one end about a pivot axis, and wherein the step of manipulating the device is achieved by advancing each of the plurality of rods towards the first end, causing the respective link to rotate about the respective pivot axis, such that there is a controlled flaring of each rod into surrounding bone.",
    "22. A method for preventing a fracture in a femur, which is characterized, in part, by a femoral head, a greater trochanter, a femoral neck, and a femoral shaft, comprising the steps of: providing a first assembly including a first screw having a threaded portion, a first tubular structure having a first end and a second end, and further defining a screw-receiving channel with threads for mating with the threaded portion of the first screw, and a plurality of molly bolt-like portions located near the first end of the first tubular structure, providing a second assembly including a second screw having a threaded portion, a second tubular structure having a first end and a second end, a plurality of fluted portions located at the first end, and a screw-receiving member that is positioned at the first end of the second tubular structure and has mating threads that engage the threaded portion of the second screw. positioning the first assembly in a hole of a predetermined depth in the femur, said hole extending along a generally horizontal axis from the greater trochanter to the femoral head, such that the first end is positioned in the femoral head and the second end is positioned in the greater trochanter; rotating the first screw relative to the screw-receiving channel of the first tubular structure, thus forcing each of the plurality of molly bolt-like portions to expand outward into surrounding bone; removing the first screw; advancing the second assembly through the first tubular structure until its first end is in proximity to the expanded molly bolt-like portions of the first assembly; and rotating the second screw relative to the screw-receiving member, which draws the screw-receiving member toward the second end and forces the fluted portions to expand outward into surrounding bone."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "The present invention relates to a device and method to prevent hip fractures.\n\nThe femur is the longest and largest bone in the human body. The femur forms part of the hip at one end and part of the knee at the other end. FIG. 1 is a front view of the upper portion of a femur, illustrating the various parts or areas of the femur 40, including the femoral head 42, the femoral neck 44, and the greater trochanter 46.\n\nThe femoral head 42 is generally globular and is directed upward, medialward, and a little forward, with the greater part of its convexity being above and in front. See Gray, Henry. Anatomy of the Human Body. Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger, 1918; Bartleby.com, 2000.\n\nThe femoral neck 44 is a truncated conical process of bone, connecting the femoral head 42 with the rest of the femur 40, and forming with the latter a wide angle opening medialward. Id. The femoral neck 44 is contracted in the middle and is broader laterally than medially. Id. The upper or superior border 45 of the neck 44 is short and thick, and ends laterally at the greater trochanter 46. Id. The inferior border, long and narrow, curves a little backward, to end at the lesser trochanter. Id.\n\nThe greater trochanter 46 is a large, irregular, quadrilateral eminence, situated at the junction of the neck 44 with the upper part of the femur 40. Id. The greater trochanter 46 has two surfaces and four borders. Id. The lateral surface, quadrilateral in form, is broad, rough, convex, and marked by a diagonal impression, which extends from the postero-superior to the antero-inferior angle. Id.",
  "cpc": [
    "A61B 17/74",
    "A61B 17/742",
    "A61F 2/32",
    "A61F 2/36"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "A61B 17/56",
    "A61B 17/74"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "University of Louisville Research Foundation ULRF"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Michael J. Voor"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2009-07-23",
  "publication_date": "2010-01-28",
  "priority_date": "2008-07-23",
  "application_number": "US-50835009-A",
  "family_id": "41569316",
  "cited_by_count": 36,
  "citations": [
    "US2077804A",
    "US2381050A",
    "US3716051A",
    "US3805775A",
    "US3759257A",
    "US4236512A",
    "US4275717A",
    "US4339217A",
    "US4379451A",
    "US4409974A",
    "US4432358A",
    "US4519100A",
    "US4632101A",
    "US4721103A",
    "US4969887A",
    "US5281225A",
    "US5259714A",
    "US5759184A",
    "US5810820A",
    "US5741282A",
    "US20010000186A1",
    "US5976139A",
    "US20030130660A1",
    "US6783530B1",
    "US20030078581A1",
    "US6443954B1",
    "US6679890B2",
    "US6685706B2",
    "US7094236B2",
    "US20060241606A1",
    "US7828802B2",
    "US7780710B2",
    "US20050228391A1",
    "US20080255560A1",
    "US7914533B2",
    "US20070046691A1",
    "US20080188897A1",
    "US20090005782A1",
    "US20090048672A1",
    "US20090076607A1",
    "US20100286692A1"
  ]
}