Minimally disruptive retractor and associated methods for spinal surgery

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9795370-B2
Application number	US-201514756198-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 14, 2015
Priority date	Aug 13, 2014
Publication date	Oct 24, 2017
Grant date	Oct 24, 2017

Abstract

This application describes a surgical retractor and related methods for providing access to a surgical target site for the purpose performing minimally invasive spinal fusion across one or more segments of the spinal column.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A posterior spinal retractor for a maintaining an access corridor to a site along a posterior spinal column on which a surgical procedure is performed, the surgical procedure including use of first and second bone anchors anchorable into a first pedicle of a first vertebra and a second pedicle of a second vertebra, respectively, comprising:
a retractor body having a first arm extending along a first arm axis and a second arm extending along a second arm axis, the first arm axis and second arm axis being parallel to one another and perpendicular to a first translation axis, the retractor body being operable to move the first retractor arm and second retractor arm relative to each other in a direction plane parallel to the first translation axis, the first arm including a splay mechanism operable to rotate a portion of the first arm about the first arm axis, the second arm including a splay mechanism operable to rotate a portion of the second arm about the second arm axis;
a first retractor blade coupleable to the first arm and having a distal end and a proximal end, the distal end of the first retractor blade including an integral blade foot operable to directly couple to a first bone anchor shank, the blade foot permitting angular adjustability of the first retractor blade relative to the first bone anchor shank, the proximal end including a proximal connector that engages the first arm such that the rotatable portion of the first arm rotates relative to the first retractor blade about a limited first free rotation range and beyond the limited first free rotation range the first retractor blade rotates with rotatable portion of the first arm to splay the distal end of the first retractor blade; and
a second retractor blade coupleable to the second arm and having a distal end and a proximal end, the distal end of the second retractor blade including an integral blade foot operable to directly couple to a second bone anchor shank, the blade foot permitting angular adjustability of the second retractor blade relative to the second bone anchor shank, the proximal end including a proximal connector that engages the second arm such that the rotatable portion of the second arm rotates relative to the second retractor blade about a limited second free rotation range and beyond the limited second free rotation range the second retractor blade rotates with the rotatable portion of the second arm to splay the distal end of the second retractor blade.

2. The posterior spinal retractor of claim 1 , including a first retractor blade clutch, the first retractor blade clutch including a first clutch extension on the first retractor blade proximal connector that is received within a first clutch cavity on the rotatable portion of the first arm, the first clutch extension having a lesser width than the width of the first clutch cavity, the difference between the first clutch extension width and the first clutch cavity width defining the limited free rotation range, the first blade clutch engaging when a side wall of the first clutch extension contacts a sidewall of the first clutch cavity.

3. The posterior spinal retractor of claim 2 , including a second retractor blade clutch, the second retractor blade clutch including a second clutch extension on the second retractor blade proximal connector that is received within a second clutch cavity on the rotatable portion of the second arm, the second clutch extension having a lesser width than the width of the second clutch cavity, the difference between the second clutch extension width and the second clutch cavity width defining the limited second free rotation range, the second blade clutch engaging when a side wall of the second clutch extension contacts a sidewall of the second clutch cavity.

4. The posterior spinal retractor of claim 3 , wherein when the first and second retractor blades are coupled to anchored first and second bone anchor shanks, an angle of the operative corridor between the first and second blades can be adjusted by moving the retractor body to move the proximal end of the first retractor blade and the proximal end of the second retractor blade in a same direction with the first retractor blade clutch and second retractor blade clutch disengaged.

5. The posterior spinal retractor of claim 3 , wherein when the first and second retractor blades are coupled to anchored first and second bone anchor shanks, a volume of the operative corridor between the first and second blades can be adjusted by translating the first arm and second arm relative to each other to move the proximal ends of the first and second blades relative to each other with the first retractor blade clutch and second retractor blade clutch disengaged.

6. The posterior spinal retractor of claim 3 , wherein when the first and second retractor blades are coupled to anchored first and second bone anchor shanks, the first and second arms can be translated relative to each other with the first retractor blade clutch and second retractor blade clutch engaged to adjust a distance between the first and second bone anchors.

7. The posterior spinal retractor of claim 3 , wherein when the first and second retractor blades are coupled to anchored first and second bone anchor shanks, at least one of the first and second rotatable arm portions can be rotated with the first retractor blade clutch and second retractor blade clutch engaged to adjust a distance between the first and second bone anchors.

8. The posterior spinal retractor of claim 1 , wherein the first retractor blade proximal connector includes a coupling mechanism configured to automatically lock the first retractor blade to the first retractor arm upon engagement.

9. The posterior spinal retractor of claim 8 , wherein the coupling mechanism includes a release button configured to unlock the first retractor blade from the first retractor body to facilitate decoupling.

10. The posterior spinal retractor of claim 9 , wherein the first retractor blade proximal connector includes a second coupling mechanism structurally identical to the coupling mechanism.

11. The posterior spinal retractor of claim 10 , comprising a secondary retractor body that couples to the second coupling mechanism.

12. The posterior spinal retractor of claim 11 , wherein the second retractor blade is structurally identical to the first retractor blade.

13. The posterior spinal retractor of claim 12 , wherein the secondary retractor body couples to both the second coupling mechanism of the first retractor blade and the second coupling mechanism of the second retractor blade.

14. The posterior spinal retractor of claim 13 , comprising a third retractor blade coupleable to the secondary retractor body.

15. A posterior spinal retractor for a maintaining an access corridor to a site along a posterior spinal column on which a surgical procedure is performed, the surgical procedure including use of first and second bone anchors anchorable into a first pedicle of a first vertebra and a second pedicle of a second vertebra, respectively, comprising:
a retractor body having a first arm extending along a first arm axis and a second arm extending along a second arm axis, the first arm axis and second arm axis being parallel to one another and perpendicular to a first translation axis, the retractor body being operable to move the first retractor arm and second retractor arm relative to each other in a first direction plane parallel to the first translation axis, the first arm including a splay mechanism operable to rotate a portion of the first arm about the first arm axis, the second arm including

Assignees

• Nuvasive Inc

Inventors

• O'Connell Casey James
• Lee James Coleman
• Shorooghi Ali A

Classifications

• A61B17/0206 Primary

  with antagonistic arms as supports for retractor elements · CPC title

• A61B2017/0256

  for the spine · CPC title

• A61B17/025 Primary

  Joint distractors · CPC title

• A61B17/02

  for holding wounds open, e.g. retractors; Tractors · CPC title

• A61B2017/00473

  Distal part, e.g. tip or head (A61B2017/00464 takes precedence) · CPC title