| 摘要 |
<p>A bone plate assembly (10) and method of using the same in a patient is disclosed that includes a ratchet mechanism (56) that allows unidirectional incremental adjustment of the overall length of the bone plate assembly (10). The bone plate assembly (10) is capable of being created to have various stages. One illustrative bone plate assembly (10) includes an intermediate plate component (16) having a first tongue (24) extending upwardly from a central portion (26) of the intermediate plate component (16) and a second tongue (28) extending downwardly from the central portion (26) of the intermediate plate component (16). First and second end plate components (18, 20) are included that have first and second tongue grooves that are adapted to slidably engage at least a portion of the first and second tongues (18, 20). A first and second ratchet mechanism (56) is included that allows the first and second end plate components (18, 20) to be incrementally ratcheted toward the central portion (26) of the intermediate plate component (16).</p> |
