Thyroplasty implant

摘要

A thyroplasty implant having a tiered base for anchoring in a window cut through a thyroid lamina and a projecting member for causing medial displacement of a vocal cord. The tiered base has a bottom tier, a middle tier, and an upper tier, the bottom tier and upper tier being larger in area than the middle tier so as to facilitate anchoring the base in the window. The base is made of a firm biocompatible material to facilitate firm anchoring of the implant, and the projecting member being made of softer, biocompatible material that is sufficiently soft to avoid damage to the vocal cord. The projecting member is generally triangular in shape and has a portion that extends in a posterior direction from the base. A measuring tool having a projecting member of similar shape to that of the implant and a movable stop member is used to measure the optimum size implant.