Bone plates having multi-use combination holes for locking and dynamic compression, and related systems and methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12178481-B2
Application number	US-202117155218-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 22, 2021
Priority date	Jan 22, 2021
Publication date	Dec 31, 2024
Grant date	Dec 31, 2024

Abstract

A bone plate includes a plate body defining an interior surface that defines a combination hole that includes intersecting locking and compression holes that each extend between outer and bone-facing surfaces of the plate body. A central axis of the compression hole is spaced from a central axis of the locking hole in an offset direction. A locking surface of the plate body defines the locking hole and at least one locking structure therein. A compression surface of the plate body defines the compression hole. An intersection boundary between the locking and compression surfaces is configured to translate the bone plate in the offset direction during contact between the intersection boundary and a head of a compression screw as it advances within the combination hole along an insertion axis offset from the central axis of the locking hole at an offset distance in a direction having a directional component in the offset direction.

First claim

What is claimed:

1. A bone plate, comprising:
a plate body defining an interior surface that defines a combination hole comprising a locking hole and a compression hole that intersect one another and each extends from an outer surface of the plate body to a bone-facing surface of the plate body, the locking hole defining a central locking hole axis and the compression hole defining a central compression hole axis, wherein the central compression hole axis is spaced from the central locking hole axis in an offset direction, and the offset direction is oriented along an intersection axis that intersects the central locking hole axis and the central compression hole axis,
the plate body further defining a locking surface that defines the locking hole and at least one locking structure within the locking hole, and the plate body further defining a compression surface that defines the compression hole,
wherein an intersection boundary between the locking surface and the compression surface defines guide formations opposite each other on first and second sides of the combination hole, the guide formations extend along respective guide axes that each define a guide angle measured between the respective guide axis and the intersection axis,
wherein the the guide formations are configured to contact a head of a compression bone fixation member that is inserted into the combination hole along an insertion axis which in turn causes the bone plate to translate in a translation direction opposite the offset direction until the head is seated against the compression surface, wherein the insertion axis is in the locking hole and offset from the central locking hole axis in a direction having a directional component in the offset direction, and
wherein each of the respective guide axes is sloped toward the compression hole as it extends in a direction that is defined from the outer surface of the plate body to the bone-facing surface of the plate body.

2. The bone plate of claim 1 , wherein the intersection axis is oriented along a longitudinal direction, the combination hole having a first end and a second end opposite each other along the longitudinal direction, and the offset direction is substantially parallel with the longitudinal direction.

3. The bone plate of claim 2 , wherein the first side and the second side of the hole are spaced from each other along a lateral direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, wherein the first and second sides are located opposite each other with respect to a reference plane that extends along the intersection axis and along a transverse direction that is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal and lateral directions, wherein the combination hole is configured such that the head slides along a pair of contact paths along the respective guide axes during the translation.

4. The bone plate of claim 3 , wherein the hole further defines an intermediate zone between the central locking hole axis and the central compression hole axis with respect to the longitudinal direction, the interior surface defines a neck at the intersection boundary, and a minimum lateral dimension of the combination hole between the first and second sides thereof within the intermediate zone occurs at the neck.

5. The bone plate of claim 4 , wherein the intersection boundary extends beyond the intermediate zone toward the first end of the combination hole.

6. The bone plate of claim 4 , wherein the intersection boundary is entirely contained within the intermediate zone.

7. The bone plate of claim 4 , wherein the locking surface further defines:
first, second, and third columns sequentially located about the central locking hole axis;
a first corner extending from a second side of the first column to a first side of the second column;
an additional corner extending from a second side of the third column to a first side of the first column;
a gap between the second and third columns along the lateral direction, the gap located at the neck, wherein the locking hole and the compression hole are open to each other through the gap,
wherein the at least one locking structure comprises threads that traverse each of the columns and at least portions of the first corner and the additional corner.

8. The bone plate of claim 7 , wherein the first, second, and third columns are arranged in a polygonal pattern, the intersection axis intersects the first column, wherein the second and third columns are substantially equidistantly spaced from the reference plane along the lateral direction, and at least some of the threads along each of the first and second sides extend to the intersection boundary such that interface edges between the locking surface and the compression surface along each of the first and second sides include edges of fully formed thread profiles of the threads.

9. The bone plate of claim 1 , wherein the combination hole defines an axis separation distance between the central locking hole axis and the central compression hole axis along a longitudinal direction oriented along the intersection axis, and the combination hole further defines a hole length between first and second ends of the combination hole along the longitudinal direction, such that, in a reference midplane that is orthogonal to the central locking hole axis and intersects the central locking hole axis at a location that is equidistantly spaced between the outer surface and the bone-facing surface with respect to a transverse direction that is substantially parallel with the central locking hole axis, a ratio of the axis separation distance to the hole length is in a range of about 0.24:1 to about 0.38:1.

10. The bone plate of claim 9 , wherein, in the reference midplane, the locking hole defines a locking hole radius measured from the central locking hole axis to the nearest portion of the locking surface, and a ratio of the locking hole radius to the axis separation distance is in a range of about 0.75:1 to about 1.25:1.

11. The bone plate of claim 10 , wherein the compression surface defines an arcuate profile in a reference plane that extends along the central compression hole axis.

12. The bone plate of claim 9 , wherein, in the reference midplane, the combination hole defines:
a locking hole radius measured from the central locking hole axis to the nearest portion of the locking surface; and
a minimum offset distance in the offset direction that will cause the translation, wherein a ratio of the minimum offset distance to the locking hole radius is in a range from about 0.125:1 to about 0.225:1.

13. The bone plate of claim 1 , wherein the combination hole is configured such that the translation causes the insertion axis to be substantially colinear with the central compression hole axis when the head is fully seated in the compression hole.

14. The bone plate of claim 1 , wherein the guide axes converge toward one another such that a location of minimum distance between the guide axes is spaced from the central compression hole axis in the offset direction.

15. The bone plate of claim 1 , wherein, in a plane that is orthogonal to the central compression hole axis, the compression surface comprises 1) a curved surface, and 2) first and second linear surfaces that extend from the curved surface to the locking structure at the first and second sides, respectively, of the combination hole, and the first and second linear surfaces are defined entirely between the central locking hole axis and the central compression hole axis with respect to a longitudinal direction that is parallel with the intersection axis.

Assignees

• Depuy Synthes Products Inc

Inventors

• DANIEL Steffan
• Aebi This
• Baeriswyl Andreas
• Oberli Joel
• Rocci Mirko

Classifications

• A61B17/8057 Primary

  the interlocking form comprising a thread · CPC title

• A61B17/8014 Primary

  the extension or compression force being caused by interaction of the plate hole and the screws · CPC title

• A61B17/8052

  immobilised relative to screws by interlocking form of the heads and plate holes, e.g. conical or threaded · CPC title

• A61B17/8605

  Heads, i.e. proximal ends projecting from bone · CPC title