US 12,004,755 B2
Surgical power drill including a measuring unit suitable for bone screw length determination
Markus Windolf, Davos (CH); and Michael Schuetz, St. Lucia (AU)
Assigned to Synthes GmbH, (CH)
Filed by Synthes GmbH, Zuchwil (CH)
Filed on Oct. 21, 2022, as Appl. No. 18/048,806.
Application 18/048,806 is a continuation of application No. 16/918,337, filed on Jul. 1, 2020, granted, now 11,478,255.
Application 16/918,337 is a continuation of application No. 15/774,798, granted, now 10,736,644, issued on Aug. 11, 2020, previously published as PCT/CH2016/000143, filed on Nov. 11, 2016.
Prior Publication US 2023/0113352 A1, Apr. 13, 2023
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. A61B 17/16 (2006.01)
CPC A61B 17/1626 (2013.01) [A61B 17/1615 (2013.01); A61B 17/1622 (2013.01); A61B 17/1633 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A device for drilling holes in bone and determining a length of a bone screw, the device comprising:
a surgical power drill comprising a housing and a drill bit that is configured to drill into the bone, wherein the drill bit extends along a longitudinal axis;
a measuring device releasably attached to or non-releasably fixed to the housing, wherein the measuring device is configured to measure a distance traveled by a cutting tip of the drill bit in a drilling direction along the longitudinal axis and relative to a surface of an implant, an instrument, or the bone during a drilling process,
wherein the measuring device comprises a processing unit configured to measure the distance traveled by the cutting tip in the drilling direction relative to the surface of the implant, the instrument, or the bone with respect to time;
wherein the processing unit comprises one or more differentiators configured to determine at least first and second derivatives of the distance traveled with respect to time; and
wherein the processing unit further comprises a peak detector configured to analyze one or more peaks of the second derivative or a highest one of the derivatives with respect to time so as to determine that the cutting tip has exited a cortex of the bone.