US 11,986,220 B2
Locking coupler device for spine alignment
Kurt Faulhaber, Renton, WA (US)
Assigned to Globus Medical, Inc., Audubon, PA (US)
Filed by GLOBUS MEDICAL, INC., Audubon, PA (US)
Filed on Aug. 19, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/406,337.
Application 17/406,337 is a continuation of application No. 16/394,437, filed on Apr. 25, 2019, granted, now 11,103,284.
Prior Publication US 2021/0378714 A1, Dec. 9, 2021
Int. Cl. A61B 17/70 (2006.01); A61B 17/68 (2006.01)
CPC A61B 17/7032 (2013.01) [A61B 2017/681 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus for aligning vertebrae of a curved spine, comprising:
a locking rod coupler including a locking coupler having a mating surface shaped to receive and secure a rod attached to a plurality of bone screws that are already inserted into vertebral bodies and that have already received the rod in a head sleeve of the inserted bone screws, and wherein the locking coupler is adapted to apply a compressive clamping force to the rod so as to fix the locking rod coupler to the rod;
a sliding rod coupler adapted to be slidable on the rod and to slide against one of the inserted bone screws relative to the locking coupler secured to the rod in order to adjust a distance between two inserted bone screws, the adjustment causing one inserted bone screw to slide along the rod; and
wherein both the locking rod coupler and the sliding rod coupler are adapted to be attachable to a distractor which is configured to slide the sliding rod coupler relative to the locking rod coupler.