Importance

Loading Importance Indicators...

Abstract

An apparatus and method for drilling an orifice in a human cranium at an angle of substantially 90.degree. to a plane defined by a tangent to the surface of the cranium at the orifice. The apparatus comprises a ring structure adapted to guide and support a drill, the ring structure comprising a retaining member configured for engagement with a flexible member such as a spring and a sleeve member configured for insertion within the retaining member and operatively associated therewith to form a support assembly. The support assembly is capable of a restricted degree of vertical, slideable movement within a tubular member. The apparatus further comprises a tubular member, adjacent and external to the ring structure, adapted to guide and support the support assembly; a flexible member adjacent the support assembly for restricting vertical movement thereby within the tube; and support structure, the support structure being adapted to rest unsecured upon the cranium. The method of the invention comprises positioning the drill guide upon the patient's cranium such that the support structure, the tubular member and the support assembly are related to each other and to the cranium so as to guide the drill through the cranium in a direction perpendicular to a plane defined by a tangent to the surface of the cranium at the orifice and drilling through said cranium until the tip of the drill bit passes therethrough and stops rotation rapidly once it has penetrated the surface.

Loading the Abstract Image...

First Claim