Granted Patent B2

US 12,605,181 · App. 18/102,990 · Granted Apr 21, 2026

Inventor: Darryl E. Barnes (Eagan, MN)

Assignee: SONEX HEALTH, INC.

A61B17/3205A61B34/20A61B2034/2063A61B2090/034

Abstract

Claims (8)

1 . A method for treating a thumb of a patient, the method comprising:

advancing an introducer shaft of a treatment device under an A1 pulley of the thumb, between the A1 pulley and a flexor pollicis longus (FPL) tendon of the thumb, wherein the introducer shaft is coupled with a handle of the treatment device;

sliding a guard handle along the handle of the treatment device to advance a neurovascular guard shaft of the treatment device along the shaft and over the A1 pulley, such that a gap remains between a distal tip of the neurovascular guard shaft and a distal tip of the introducer shaft;

rotating a blade slider approximately 90 degrees relative to the handle to expose a blade out of the gap between the distal tip of the introducer shaft and the distal tip of the neurovascular guard shaft and to position the blade in a vertical, cutting position;

retracting the blade by sliding the blade slider proximally along the handle to cut the A1 pulley; and removing the treatment device from the thumb.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising visualizing at least part of the method using an ultrasound device positioned outside of the patient's hand.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the neurovascular guard shaft is made of a material that allows the passage of ultrasound signals therethrough.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising retracting the neurovascular guard shaft before removing the treatment device from the thumb.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (271)