CONTEST
Competed
Problem
If you are new, see patent and prior art basics and tips for Patexia's prior art contests, and refer to the submission notes below. The following questions will help you understand specifically what we are looking for in this study.
We request previously undiscovered prior art including products, patents and non-patent literature which can help invalidate claims 1, 64 and 76 of US patent 5,921,986 -- “Bone Suture”-- and 1, 25 and 26 of US patent 8,147,514--”Apparatus and method for securing a portion of a body.” These patents describe a bone suture and anchors for securing sections of bone, tissue, or other segment of body tissue together to facilitate healing. Fig. 1 illustrates a cross section of a basic form of this device holding together two portions of a fractured bone.
Fig. 1 -- Cross-section of bone suture device securing two halves of fractured bone
The suture is a flexible piece of material such as a thread or wire. The suture passes down a channel formed through the two pieces of bone, and applies tension to hold the two sides of a fractured bone together. Instead of attaching directly to the bone, the suture ties around two anchors which together clamp the two bone or tissue segments in place as illustrated in Fig. 1. Both anchors should be long enough to span the width of the channel.
Fig. 2 -- Suture and suture anchor installation: anchor and suture pushed down hollow surgical drill.
At least one of the anchors must be thin enough to fit length-wise down the channel through the two pieces of bone. Fig. 2 depicts one example method of installing the anchor by attaching the suture and sliding the two down the length of a hollow surgical drill used to bore a hole through the bone. However, the anchor need not travel through a hollow surgical drill when passing through the channel. Upon reaching the other side of the bone, the anchor rotates into place perpendicular to the tensioned suture, as depicted in Fig. 1.
Instead of a second anchor, the patent also describes using a deformable suture retainer or other anchoring device to hold tension in the suture and clamp the two fragments of bone together. This clamping configuration can also fasten muscles or other tissue segments to bone.
Sources included in contest submissions should clearly describe the bone suture configuration described above. Source material can include patents or patent applications filed before February 6th, 1998, or non-patent literature (for example advertisements, product documentation, technical descriptions, etc.) published before that date.
Questions
| # | Question | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Does the source clearly show that it was published (or filed, if a patent or patent application) or offered for sale before February 6th, 1998? | 0 |
| 2 | Does the source describe a flexible member used to fasten together at least two segments of body tissue with at least one of the segments of body tissue including bone having a channel formed there through? | 0 |
| 3 | Does the source describe at least one anchor with a first orientation narrow enough to fit through the channel (as in Fig. 2) and a second orientation long enough to span the width of the channel (as in Fig. 1)? | 0 |
| 4 | Does the source describe passing the anchor with the flexible member through the channel in the first orientation, and then rotating the anchor perpendicular to the channel to the second orientation? | 0 |
| 5 | Does the source describe tensioning the flexible member to pull the anchor tight to one side of either of the two segments of body tissue? | 0 |
| 6 | Does the source describe attaching a second anchor to the other end of the tensioned flexible member to compress the two segments of body tissue together? | 0 |
| 7 | Does the source describe optionally using a flexible member retainer or other fastening device instead of the second anchor? | 0 |
Additional Notes
The following questions will help contestants identify and clarify the specific criteria we’re looking for, as well as help us selected winning prize entries. To qualify for contest, each entry should correctly answer "yes" to at least questions 1-3.
- Does the source clearly show that it was published (or filed, if a patent or patent application) or offered for sale before February 6th, 1998?
- Does the source describe a flexible member used to fasten together at least two segments of body tissue with at least one of the segments of body tissue including bone having a channel formed there through?
- Does the source describe at least one anchor with a first orientation narrow enough to fit through the channel (as in Fig. 2) and a second orientation long enough to span the width of the channel (as in Fig. 1)?
- Does the source describe passing the anchor with the flexible member through the channel in the first orientation, and then rotating the anchor perpendicular to the channel to the second orientation?
- Does the source describe tensioning the flexible member to pull the anchor tight to one side of either of the two segments of body tissue?
- Does the source describe attaching a second anchor to the other end of the tensioned flexible member to compress the two segments of body tissue together?
- Does the source describe optionally using a flexible member retainer or other fastening device instead of the second anchor?
Selection Criteria and Prize Distribution
Patexia will evaluate each response to ensure each question has been satisfactorily answered. We will determine the contest winner and runners-up based first on the number of correct "yes" responses and second on the order responses were submitted. We will award 80% of the contest prize to the winning submission, and will distribute the remaining 20% amongst the qualifying runners up. If the winning entry was referred by another user, a $500 referral prize will be subtracted from the 80% winner's award. Winner selection is based on community responses to Patexia's research questions, and does not constitute a legal opinion on patent validity or related litigation.
Known References
In addition to the patents listed in the ‘986 and the ‘514 references, the following references are also known related prior art. Please do not resubmit them. Entries relying on known references will not be considered for contest prizes.
- 5,626,614 T-ANCHOR SUTURING DEVICE AND METHOD FOR USING SAME
- 5,398,861 DEVICE FOR DRIVING SURGICAL FASTENERS
- 2,248,054 SCREW DRIVER
- 4,235,238 APPARATUS FOR SUTURING COELIAC TISSUES
- 5,484,440 BONE SCREW AND SCREWDRIVER
- 5,021,059 PLUG DEVICE WITH PULLEY FOR SEALING PUNCTURES IN TISSUE AND METHODS OF USE
- 5,569,264 SURGICAL INSTALLATION INSTRUMENT
- 5,562,689 APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR APPLYING AND ADJUSTING AN ANCHORING DEVICE
- 5,002,550 SUTURE ANCHOR INSTALLATION TOOL
- 5,649,931 ORTHOPAEDIC APPARATUS FOR DRIVING AND/OR REMOVING A BONE SCREW
- 5,203,787 SUTURE RETAINING ARRANGEMENT
- 5,207,679 SUTURE ANCHOR AND INSTALLATION TOOL
- 4,898,156 SUTURE ANCHOR
- 5,354,298 SUTURE ANCHOR INSTALLATION SYSTEM
- 5,350,399 PERCUTANEOUS ARTERIAL PUNCTURE SEAL DEVICE AND INSERTION TOOL THEREFORE
- 5,545,178 SYSTEM FOR CLOSING A PERCUTANEOUS PUNCTURE FORMED BY A TROCAR TO PREVENT TISSUE AT THE PUNCTURE FROM HERNIATING
- Journal of Orthopedic Trauma (Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 78-82) REPAIR OF THE TIBIOFIBULAR SYNDESMOSIS WITH A FLEXIBLE IMPLANT
- 6,068,648 TISSUE ANCHORING SYSTEM AND METHOD
- 5,139,520 METHOD FOR ACL RECONSTRUCTION
- 6,068,648 TISSUE ANCHORING SYSTEM AND METHOD
- 5,269,809 LOCKING MECHANISM FOR USE WITH A SLOTTED SUTURE ANCHOR
- DE9002844.9 BUTTON FOR ATTACHMENT OF LIGAMENT AND SUTURE MATERIAL
- 5,306,301 GRAFT ATTACHMENT DEVICE AND METHOD OF USING SAME
- 5,041,129 SLOTTED SUTURE ANCHOR AND METHOD OF ANCHORING A SUTURE
- 4,741,330 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ANCHORING AND MANIPULATING CARTILAGE
- 5,662,681 SELF LOCKING CLOSURE FOR SEALING PERCUTANEOUS PUNCTURES
- 5,601,557 ANCHORING AND MANIPULATING TISSUE
- 5,258,016 SUTURE ANCHOR AND DRIVER ASSEMBLY
- 5,645,588 GRAFT ATTACHMENT DEVICE
- 4,705,040 PERCUTANEOUS FIXATION OF HOLLOW ORGANS
- 5,769,894 GRAFT ATTACHMENT DEVICE AND METHOD OF ATTACHMENT
- RE43,143 TISSUE MANIPULATION
- 624,969 BOLT
- 4,006,747 SURGICAL METHOD
- 4,669,473 SURGICAL FASTENER
- 5,098,433 WINGED COMPRESSION BOLT ORTHOPEDIC FASTENER
- 5,496,348 SUTURE ANCHOR
