US 11,806,030 B1
Trial sizer for alignment of pilot holes
Vikas Patel, Denver, CO (US); Leighton Joseph LaPierre, Hampstead, NC (US); and Brandon Blair Arthurs, Wilmington, NC (US)
Assigned to The Regents of the University of Colorado, a body corporate, Denver, CO (US)
Filed by The Regents of the University of Colorado, a Body Corporate, Denver, CO (US)
Filed on Oct. 16, 2020, as Appl. No. 17/072,995.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/915,679, filed on Oct. 16, 2019.
Int. Cl. A61B 17/17 (2006.01)
CPC A61B 17/1757 (2013.01) [A61B 17/1728 (2013.01)] 11 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A kit configured for drilling one or more pilot holes and inserting fasteners into a patient's vertebrae prior to inserting or securing a plate to the patient's vertebrae, comprising:
a main body having a handle and a guide body;
a plurality of spacers temporarily attachable to a distal end of the handle, wherein each of the plurality of spacers includes a first surface and a second surface and a longitudinal axis extending between a proximal end and a distal end of the respective spacer;
the handle further including:
a gripping section proximate to a proximal end of the main body;
the distal end of the handle configured to threadably engage each of the plurality of spacers; and
the guide body located between the distal end of the handle and the gripping section of the handle;
the guide body further including a pair of hollow instrument guides, wherein each of the pair of hollow instrument guides includes:
a bore hole extending from a proximal end to a distal end of one of the pair of hollow instrument guides, the bore hole having a longitudinal axis extending therebetween;
a cutout window proximate the distal end of a respective one of the pair of hollow instrument guides, wherein the cutout window is configured to provide a visual of instruments within the respective one of the pair of hollow instrument guides prior to the instruments being configured to interact with the patient's vertebrae;
the longitudinal axes of the bore holes in the pair of hollow instrument guides being non-parallel to the longitudinal axis of a respective one of the plurality of spacers when the respective one of the plurality of spacers is engaged with the handle;
each of the plurality of spacers having a different thickness extending between respective ones of the first and second surfaces of each spacer;
each of the plurality of spacers including a receipt on the respective first surface configured to receive an orientation member extending from the guide body such that the respective first surface of each of the plurality of spacers is at a same relative distance and orientation from the distal ends of the pair of hollow instrument guides when the respective one of the plurality of spacers is engaged with the handle, such that the pilot holes are configured to be drilled at drilling locations on one of the vertebrae independent of the thickness of the respective one of the plurality of spacers;
whereby the respective one of the plurality of spacers is configured to be inserted between two of the patient's vertebrae and the guide body is configured to guide a user to the drilling locations on the one of the vertebrae.