Importance

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Abstract

A clamp and installation tool combination wherein the clamp portion comprises an elongated pin having a hook at both ends and containing multiple circumferential notches along its shaft. A clamp button with a central through-hole is mounted on the shaft of the pin and engages the notches so as to produce a ratchet-type mechanism that permits the motion of the button only in the direction of the distal end of the pin. The installation tool consists of a syringe-type applicator having an outer barrel containing a pin retention clip designed to engage the hook at the proximal end of the pin, so that the pin cannot move in relation to the barrel of the tool. A hollow inner piston having a longitudinal groove conforming to the size and shape of the retention clip is mounted slidably in the barrel and can be pushed forward to engage the clamp button and force it over the pin's circumferential notches toward the distal end of the pin with great pressure without affecting the stability of the coupling between the pin and the barrel of the tool. Thus, a bone clamp is formed by mounting the pin in the installation tool and inserting the distal end of the pin through an aperture formed within two or more parts of a bone until the distal hook protrudes and engages the back surface of the bone parts to form a distal anchor; the piston of the tool is then pushed forward to cause the clamp button to press against the front surface of the bone parts to provide a proximal anchor that completes the bone clamp. The excess portion of the pin is then cut and removed with the installation tool.

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First Claim