Anterior cervical plating system
View Patent ↗Disclosed are systems and methods for spinal fusion and particularly, anterior cervical plating systems with a toggle pivotally mounted to a bone plate with at least two degrees of freedom of movement. In a particular embodiment, each toggle plate is slidably attached and pivotally mounted to the bone plate by a locking screw having an axis such that in at least one slidable position each toggle plate can pivot relative to the axis of the locking screw in the bone plate.
1. An implant assembly adapted to be fixed to a spine using at least four bone screws, each bone screw having a shank and a head, wherein the implant assembly comprises: a plate member, wherein the plate member has at least four apertures extending therethrough, wherein each aperture includes a first region sized to permit the shank of a respective bone screw but not the head of the respective bone screw to pass, and wherein each aperture includes a second region sized to permit both the shank of the respective bone screw and the head of the respective bone screw to pass; and at least two toggle plates, wherein each toggle plate is slidably attached and pivotally mounted to the plate member by a locking screw having an axis and wherein each toggle plate is operatively associated with two of the bone screws; wherein each toggle plate is slideable to a first position in which each bone screw associated therewith may be inserted in the aperture such that the shank of the bone screw passes into the first region and the head of the bone screw remains in the second region; wherein each toggle plate is slideable to a second position in which the head of each bone screw associated therewith is at least partially covered by the toggle plate; wherein each toggle plate is pivotally mounted to the plate member such that at least at the second slidable position each toggle plate can pivot relative to the axis of the locking screw in the plate member; and wherein the locking screw causes pivotal movement upon tightening.
2. The implant assembly of claim 1 , wherein the plate member has a top surface and a bottom surface, wherein the first region of the aperture is adjacent the bottom surface of the plate member, and wherein the second region of the aperture is adjacent the top surface of the plate member.
3. The implant assembly of claim 2 , wherein each bone screw is inserted from the top surface of the plate member towards the bottom surface of the plate member.
4. The implant assembly of claim 3 , wherein the bottom surface of the plate member is contoured to substantially match a contour of the bone to which the plate member is affixed.
5. The implant assembly of claim 4 , wherein the bottom surface of the plate member is curved along at least one axis.
6. The implant assembly of claim 5 , wherein the bottom surface of the plate member is curved along a first axis and a second axis.
7. The implant assembly of claim 6 , wherein the first axis and the second axis are substantially orthogonal to one another.
8. The implant assembly of claim 1 , wherein the implant assembly is used for fusing at least two vertebral bodies.
9. The implant assembly of claim 8 , wherein the implant assembly is used in an anterior cervical plating procedure.
10. The implant assembly of claim 8 , wherein the implant assembly includes between four and ten apertures for receiving therein between four and ten respective bone screws.
11. The implant assembly of claim 8 , wherein two of the bone screws are screwed into each of the vertebral bodies through two of the apertures.
12. The implant assembly of claim 1 , wherein the shank of each bone screw is threaded.
13. An implant assembly adapted to be fixed to a spine using at least four bone screws, each bone screw having a shank and a head, wherein the implant assembly comprises: a plate member, wherein the plate member has at least four apertures extending therethrough, wherein each aperture includes a first region sized to permit the shank of a respective bone screw but not the head of the respective bone screw to pass, and wherein each aperture includes a second region sized to permit both the shank of the respective bone screw and the head of the respective bone screw to pass; and at least two toggle plates; wherein each toggle plate is slidably attached and pivotally mounted to the plate member by a locking screw having an axis such that each toggle plate is operatively associated with two of the bone screws; wherein each toggle plate has at least two degrees of freedom of movement relative to the plate member; wherein the first degree of freedom of movement for each toggle plate is sliding movement between a first position in which each bone screw associated with the toggle plate may be inserted in the aperture such that the shank of each of the bone screws passes into the first region and the head of each of the bone screws remains in the second region and a second position in which the head of each bone screw associated with the toggle plate is at least partially covered by the toggle plate; wherein the second degree of freedom of movement for each toggle plate is pivoting movement relative to the axis of the locking screw in the plate member at least when the toggle plate is in the section position; and wherein the locking screw causes the pivoting movement upon tightening.
14. The implant assembly of claim 13 , wherein the plate member has a top surface and a bottom surface, wherein the first region of the aperture is adjacent the bottom surface of the plate member, and wherein the second region of the aperture is adjacent the top surface of the plate member.
15. The implant assembly of claim 14 , wherein each bone screw is inserted from the top surface of the plate member towards the bottom surface of the plate member.
16. The implant assembly of claim 15 , wherein the bottom surface of the plate member is contoured to substantially match a contour of the bone to which the plate member is affixed.
17. The implant assembly of claim 16 , wherein the bottom surface of the plate member is curved along at least one axis.
18. The implant assembly of claim 17 , wherein the bottom surface of the plate member is curved along a first axis and a second axis.
19. The implant assembly of claim 18 , wherein the first axis and the second axis are substantially orthogonal to one another.
20. The implant assembly of claim 13 , wherein the implant assembly is used for fusing at least two vertebral bodies.
21. The implant assembly of claim 20 , wherein the implant assembly is used in an anterior cervical plating procedure.
22. The implant assembly of claim 20 , wherein the implant assembly includes between four and ten apertures for receiving therein between four and ten respective bone screws.
23. The implant assembly of claim 20 , wherein two of the bone screws are screwed into each of the vertebral bodies through two of the apertures.
24. The implant assembly of claim 13 , wherein the shank of each bone screw is threaded.
25. An implant assembly adapted to be fixed to a spine using at least one bone screw having a shank and a head, wherein the implant assembly comprises: a plate member, wherein the plate member has at least one aperture, wherein the aperture includes a first region sized to permit the shank of the bone screw but not the head of the bone screw to pass, and wherein the aperture includes a second region sized to permit both the shank of the bone screw and the head of the bone screw to pass; and at least one toggle plate; wherein the toggle plate is slidably attached and pivotally mounted to the plate member by a locking screw having an axis such that the toggle plate is operatively associated with the bone screw; wherein the toggle plate has at least two degrees of freedom of movement relative to the plate member; wherein the first degree of freedom of movement for the toggle plate is sliding movement between a first position in which the bone screw may be inserted in the aperture such that the shank of the bone screw passes into the first region and the head of the bone screw remains in the second region and a second position in which the head of the bone screw is at least partially covered by the toggle plate; wherein the second degree of freedom of movement for the toggle plate is pivoting movement relative to the axis of the locking screw in the plate member at least when the toggle plate is in the second position; and wherein the locking screw causes the pivoting movement upon tightening.
26. The implant assembly of claim 25 , wherein the plate member has a top surface and a bottom surface, wherein the first region of the aperture is adjacent the bottom surface of the plate member, and wherein the second region of the aperture is adjacent the top surface of the plate member.
27. The implant assembly of claim 26 , wherein the bone screw is inserted from the top surface of the plate member towards the bottom surface of the plate member.
28. The implant assembly of claim 27 , wherein the bottom surface of the plate member is contoured to substantially match a contour of the bone to which the plate member is affixed.
29. The implant assembly of claim 28 , wherein the bottom surface of the plate member is curved along at least one axis.
30. The implant assembly of claim 29 , wherein the bottom surface of the plate member is curved along a first axis and a second axis.
31. The implant assembly of claim 30 , wherein the first axis and the second axis are substantially orthogonal to one another.
32. The implant assembly of claim 25 , wherein the implant assembly is used for fusing at least two vertebral bodies.