Device for establishing supportive forces in the bony structure of a skeleton

摘要

A device is provided for insertion into a human bone to replicate the biomechanical forces found in a healthy bone in a human skeleton. The device can be configured in several different ways and is customizable to meet the requirements of a particular bone. The device is constructed with a central shaft having a compression plate at one end and a base member at the other. A plurality of wires interconnects the compression plate and the base member. The central shaft is threaded at both ends, with one end threaded into the base member and the other end threaded into the compression plate. An actuator is used to urge the base member in the direction of the compression plate. This action forces the plurality of wires to bow in an outward direction to stabilize the device against the bony surface on the interior surface of a bone.

主权项

1. A device for establishing supportive forces inside a bony structure of a skeleton, wherein the device comprises:
a first base member defining a first axis; a first compression plate centered on the first axis and positioned at a distance “d1” from the first base member; a first plurality of wires interconnecting the first compression plate with the first base member, wherein each wire is individually coplanar with the first axis and is distanced laterally therefrom; a first central shaft aligned along the first axis to interconnect the first compression plate with the first base member, the first central shaft formed with a transverse hole; a first actuator for acting on the first central shaft to change the distance “d1” between the first compression plate and the first base member by an increment “Δd1”, to move the first plurality of wires between a first configuration wherein the wires are substantially parallel to each other, and a second configuration wherein the wires are compressed and deployed to extend laterally outward from the first axis in a bowed configuration; a second base member defining a second axis, the second base member received within the transverse hole formed in the first central shaft; a second compression plate centered on the second axis and positioned at a distance “d2” from the second base member; a second plurality of wires interconnecting the second compression plate with the second base member, wherein each wire is individually coplanar with the second axis and is distanced laterally therefrom; a second central shaft aligned along the second axis to interconnect the second compression plate with the second base member, the second central shaft formed with a transverse hole; and a second actuator for acting on the second central shaft to change the distance “d2” between the second compression plate and the second base member by an increment “Δd2”, to move the second plurality of wires between a first configuration wherein the wires are substantially parallel to each other, and a second configuration wherein the wires are compressed and deployed to extend laterally outward from the second axis in a bowed configuration to provide supportive forces for the skeleton when the device is embedded in a bone of the skeleton.