Method and apparatus for coupling soft tissue to bone

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-8932331-B2
Application number	US-201213412105-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 5, 2012
Priority date	Feb 3, 2006
Publication date	Jan 13, 2015
Grant date	Jan 13, 2015

Abstract

A method and apparatus for coupling a soft tissue implant into a locking cavity formed within a bone. The method includes the following: implanting in bone a first anchor including a first suture construct connected to the first anchor; passing a first adjustable loop of the first suture construct at least one of over or through the soft tissue; coupling the first adjustable loop to one of a first locking feature of the first anchor or a second locking feature of a second anchor; adjusting the first adjustable loop by pulling a first end of the first suture construct; and securing the soft tissue against bone by pulling the first end of the first suture construct.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A bone anchor for coupling soft tissue to bone comprising:
a bone coupling portion including a plurality of bone locking features;
a tissue coupling portion adjacent to the bone coupling portion, the tissue coupling portion defining an aperture and a suture coupling feature; and
a suture construct seated within the aperture, the suture construct extending from a first end to a second end and including a first adjustable loop and a second adjustable loop, wherein the first end of the suture construct extends through a first passage portion defined by the suture construct and the second end of the suture construct extends through a second passage portion defined by the suture construct,
wherein pulling the first end of the suture construct decreases a length of the first adjustable loop,
wherein the first and second passage portions positioned at the aperture in the tissue coupling portion to substantially fix the passage portion at the aperture.

2. The bone anchor of claim 1 , wherein the first passage portion further includes a first portion having a first aperture and a second aperture and the second passage portion further includes a second portion having a third aperture and a fourth aperture, the first end of the suture construct passing through the first portion and the second end of the suture construct passing through the second portion.

3. The bone anchor of claim 1 , wherein the first aperture is the same as the third aperture, and the second aperture is the same as the fourth aperture.

4. The bone anchor of claim 1 , wherein the suture coupling feature includes a hook.

5. The bone anchor of claim 1 , wherein the first end passes through a first aperture defined by a body portion of the suture construct and into a longitudinal internal bore defined by the first passage portion and out the second aperture defined by the body portion to form the first adjustable loop; and
wherein the second end of the suture construct passes through a third aperture defined by the body portion and into the longitudinal internal bore defined by the second passage portion and out a fourth aperture defined by the body portion to form a second adjustable loop.

6. The bone anchor of claim 5 , wherein the first aperture and the fourth aperture are the same, and the second aperture and the third aperture are the same.

7. A bone anchor comprising:
a bone coupling portion including a bone locking feature;
a suture coupling feature for coupling a first portion of a suture and defining an aperture; and
a suture construct configured to be disposed within the aperture,
wherein the suture construct includes a continuous braided body defining a longitudinally extending first passage portion and a longitudinally extending second passage portion, and a first suture portion extending from the continuous braided body and passing into the first passage portion and out of the first passage portion so as to place the first suture portion outside of the first passage portion, and define an adjustable first loop, and a second suture portion extending from the continuous braided body and passing into the second passage portion and out the second passage portion, so as to place the second suture portion outside of the second passage portion, and define an adjustable second loop,
wherein the first passage portion and the second passage portion are positioned at the aperture in the suture coupling feature to couple the suture construct to the aperture.

8. The bone anchor of claim 7 , wherein the bone locking feature is selected from the group consisting of threading and a plurality of annular ribbed rings.

9. The bone anchor of claim 7 , wherein the suture coupling feature is configured to accept an adjustable loop from a suture construct.

10. The bone anchor of claim 7 , wherein the first suture portion passes through a first aperture into the first passage portion and through a second aperture out of the first passage portion, and the second suture portion passes through a third aperture into the second passage portion and through a fourth aperture and out of the second passage portion.

11. The bone anchor of claim 10 , wherein the first aperture is the same as the fourth aperture, and the second aperture is the same as the third aperture.

12. The bone anchor of claim 7 , wherein the first and second adjustable loops are self-locking, and the size of the first and second adjustable loops can be adjusted by pulling on the first and second ends of the suture construct, respectively.

13. An anchor for coupling soft tissue to bone comprising:
a bone coupling portion at a first end of the anchor;
a suture coupling hook at a second end of the anchor; and
a suture construct disposed within an aperture at the second end of the anchor,
wherein the suture construct includes: (i) a continuous braided body defining a longitudinally extending passage; (ii) a first end extending from the continuous braided body and passing through a first aperture in the continuous braided body, through a first portion of the passage in a first direction, and out a second aperture in the continuous braided body so as to place the first end outside of the passage, and define a first loop; and (iii) a second end extending from the continuous braided body and passing through a third aperture in the continuous braided body, through a second portion of the passage in a second direction, the second direction being opposite of the first direction, and out a fourth aperture in the continuous braided body so as to place the second end outside of the passage, and define a second loop,
wherein the longitudinally extending passage is positioned within the aperture at the second end of the anchor to couple the suture construct to the anchor.

14. The anchor of claim 13 , wherein the bone coupling portion comprises a bone locking feature.

15. The anchor of claim 14 , wherein the bone locking feature is threading or a plurality of raised ridges.

16. The anchor of claim 13 , wherein the first loop and the second loop are adjustable and self-locking.

17. The anchor of claim 13 , wherein the first and second loops can couple soft tissue to bone when the anchor is locked into a bone with the bone coupling portion of the anchor.

18. The anchor of claim 13 , wherein the hook is configured to receive either a loop from the suture construct disposed within the aperture or a different loop from a suture construct coupled to another anchor.

19. The bone anchor of claim 13 , wherein the first aperture is the same as the fourth aperture, and the second aperture is the same as the third aperture.

20. The bone anchor of claim 13 , wherein the passage further includes a first portion having the first aperture and the second aperture and a second portion having the third aperture and the fourth aperture, the first end of the continuous braided body passing through the first portion and the second end of the continuous braided body passing through the second portion.

Assignees

• Kaiser Ryan A
• Denham Gregory J
• Stone Kevin T
• Bonnarens Frank O
• Biomet Sports Medicine Llc

Inventors

• Kaiser Ryan A
• Denham Gregory J
• Stone Kevin T
• Bonnarens Frank O

Classifications

• A61B2017/0417

  T-fasteners · CPC title

• A61B17/0469

  Suturing instruments for use in minimally invasive surgery, e.g. endoscopic surgery · CPC title

• A61F2002/087

  Anchor integrated into tendons, e.g. bone blocks, integrated rings · CPC title

• A61F2002/0835

  with deformation of anchor parts, e.g. expansion of dowel by set screw · CPC title

• A61F2002/0882

  Anchor in or on top of a bone tunnel, i.e. a hole running through the entire bone · CPC title