Surgical apparatus and method for manipulating one or more osteochondral plugs

1. A surgical apparatus comprising:

a transparent tubular member having a proximal end, distal end and an outer surface, said distal end including an adjustable stop extending laterally from the outer surface and configured to be moveable upwards or downwards relative to the tubular member, said stop being disposed relative to the distal end so that a distance between the stop and the distal end defines a height of an osteochondral plug, said stop configured to be fixed relative to said tubular member by one or more set screws, said tubular member defining a longitudinal passage configured for simultaneous disposal of a plurality of osteochondral plugs in axial alignment, the plurality of osteochondral plugs including an osteochondral plug and at least one other osteochondral plug disposed distally to the osteochondral plug;

a protrusion adapted to at least partially extend within the longitudinal passage of the tubular member; and

a pressure sensor adapted to be coupled to the at least one other osteochondral plug so that the at least one other osteochondral plug and the pressure sensor are positioned within the longitudinal passage of the tubular member at the same time.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the pressure sensor is adapted to measure a pressure associated with a force applied to the osteochondral plug via the protrusion wherein the pressure sensor is configured to detect pressure amounts within a range of 5 cm in any radial direction from the pressure sensor.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 further comprising a receiver in communication with the pressure sensor.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the pressure sensor is adapted to transmit a signal to the receiver, the signal corresponding to the pressure associated with the force.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the tubular member is adapted to be punched into a donor site; and

wherein the tubular member comprises a tapered distal end portion for facilitating the punching of the tubular member into the donor site.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the tubular member comprises a generally slice-of-pie-shaped cross-section.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the tubular member comprises a cross-section selected from the group consisting of a circular cross-section, a square cross-section, a rectangular cross-section, an octagonal cross-section and a hexagonal cross-section.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the pressure sensor includes a capacitor having a pair of spaced plates and a resonant frequency, the pressure sensor configured such that the resonant frequency is dependent upon the spacing between the plates of the sensor.

9. A surgical apparatus comprising:

a transparent tubular member having a proximal end, a distal end and an outer surface, said distal end including a stop comprising an adjustable clamp extending about the tubular member, said stop configured to be moveable upwards or downwards relative to the tubular member, said stop being disposed relative to the distal end so that a distance between the stop and the distal end defines a height of an osteochondral plug, wherein the stop is configured to be fixed relative to said tubular member by said adjustable clamp, said tubular member configured to receive and hold simultaneously a plurality of osteochondral plugs in alignment, the plurality of osteochondral plugs including a first osteochondral plug and at least one other osteochondral plug visible through said transparent tubular member, wherein the tubular member comprises a generally slice-of-pie-shaped cross-section; and

a protrusion adapted to be received by the tubular member; wherein the apparatus comprises a first configuration in which:

the first osteochondral plug is received and held in place within the tubular member; and

the least one other osteochondral plug is received and held simultaneously in place within the tubular member in alignment with the first osteochondral plug; and

wherein the apparatus comprises a second configuration in which the protrusion is configured to engage the first osteochondral plug such that the at least one other osteochondral plug exits the tubular member.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the tubular member is adapted to be punched into a donor site to receive the first osteochondral plug; and

wherein the tubular member comprises a tapered distal end portion for facilitating the punching of the tubular member into the donor site.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 further comprising a pressure sensor configured to be coupled to the at least one other osteochondral plug so that the pressure sensor is positioned within the tubular member when the apparatus is in the first configuration.

12. The apparatus of claim 9 further comprising a pressure sensor configured to be coupled to the at least one other osteochondral plug so that the pressure sensor is positioned within the tubular member in the first configuration;

wherein, the second configuration of the apparatus allows for the at least one other osteochondral plug to be impacted into a defect site in response to a regulated application of force configured for application to the first osteochondral plug; and

wherein the pressure sensor is configured to measure a pressure associated with the force during the impacting of the at least one other osteochondral plug into the defect site; and

wherein the pressure sensor is configured to detect pressure amounts within a range of 5 cm in any radial direction from the pressure sensor.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein said tubular member is configured to receive and hold six osteochondral plugs in alignment.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said osteochondral plugs have a height of 15 mm.

15. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the pressure sensor includes a capacitor having a pair of spaced plates and a resonant frequency, the pressure sensor configured such that the resonant frequency is dependent upon the spacing between the plates of the sensor.