Rod implant for osteosynthesis of long bones

Abstract

Described is a solid rod implant having a pair of plates at each end of the rod which is designed for bridging two portions of a broken long bone, united or ununited, and maintaining the divided portions of the bone in rigid alignment with each other. The solid rod implant may be rigidly attached to the damaged long bone by means of the pair of partly tubular plates at either end of the rod. These plates provide the sole means of attachment of the implant to the bone i.e there is has no provision for any attachments along, beside or through any portion of the rod that would allow it to be apposed to, or attached to any portion of the bone to which it is providing support during osteosynthesis. By its design and method of rigid attachment to the bone, through partly tubular end plates, the implant allows controlled motion at the fractured or non united portions of the bone fragments, a motion which stimulates rapidly forming external bridging callus formation for osteosynthesis of the long bone, a process that shortens the time of osteosynthesis of long bones so treated.

What I claim is:  
     
         1 . A rod implant for osteosynthesis of fractured long bones, by placing and holding the ununited ends of said bones in fixed and constant alignment, and promoting the process of osteosynthesis and reunion of said fractured long bone consisting of a solid cylindrical rod having a pair of substantially flat, partly tubular fixation plates at each end of said rod, 
 said fixation plates having fastener receiving openings for fastening said implant to the extremities of said fractured long bone,    said fixation plates having a concave inner surface for fastening said plate to the curved surface of said fractured bones,    said cylindrical rod being contoured to the shape and length of the particular bone to which it is to be fastened,    said fixation plates and said cylindrical rod lying in different planes with respect to each other so that upon fastening of said tubular plates to said fractured bone said cylindrical rod is placed in parallel, non-contact alignment with the fractured long bone to which it is fastened and provides weight bearing support for said fractured long bone along the longtudinal axis thereof,    said implant being of such length as determined according to the pre-fracture length of said long bone to which it is to be attached so that upon fastening and alignment of said implant on said fractured bone said fractured bone is restored to its approximate pre-fracture length,    said fastener receiving openings being generally adapted to receive screws, wires, cables or other fastening means therein.    
     
     
         2 . An rod implant for internal fixation of fractured long bones comprising a solid, elongated cylindrical rod having identical flat fixation plate sections at each end of said cylindrical rod wherein each of said flat fixation plate sections has screw holes to facilitate the fastening of said implant to the extremities of said fractured bone and wherein said solid cylindrical rod is made from an inert material.  
     
     
         3 . A rod implant as claimed in claim wherein the length and contour of said implant is the same as the length and contour of the fractured long bone to which it is to be fastened so that the fractured long bone is restored to its prefracture length and contour.  
     
     
         4 . A rod implant as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said cylindrical rod is offset in a superior plane to said flat fixation plates.  
     
     
         5 . A rod implant as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said implant includes a pair of identical partly tubular plates having screw holes therein said tubular plates being separated from each other by a narrower elongated cylindrical rod section and wherein the length, diameter and contour of said cylindrical rod section and the size and angular orientation between said cylindrical rod section and said tubular plates is determined according to the particular long bone which is to be stabilized and position of the bone fragment to which the fixation plates are to be attached.  
     
     
         6 . A rod implant as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the length of said implant and number of said screw holes in said tubular plates at each end of said implant increase in accordance with the length of said implant such that the number of screw holes in said tubular plates of said implant which is used in the repair of the fracture of the femur is greater than the number of screw holes in said tubular plates of said implant used in the repair of a wrist bone and wherein the maximum length of said implant is 12 inches for said implant which is used for the repair of the fracture of the femur and the minimum length of said implant is 2 inches for said implant used in the repair of a wrist bone and wherein said tubular plates for said implant used in the repair of the femur has a maximum of five screw holes and said tubular plates for said implant used in the repair of a wrist bone has at least one screw hole.  
     
     
         7 . A rod implant as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein said cylindrical rod of said implant has a uniform cross-sectional configuration throughout the length thereof and wherein said tubular plates at each end of said cylindrical rod have a wider cross-sectional diameter than said cylindrical rod section, are identically sized and shaped for all similarly sized implants and each tubular plate at each end of said cylindrical rod is fixed in a constant angular relationship with said cylindrical rod so that the attachment of said implant to said fractured bone fragments will cause said fractured bone fragments to be restored to their pre-fracture condition.  
     
     
         8 . The rod implant as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said implany is contoured to have the same curvature, alignment and length of the long bone to which it is to be attached.  
     
     
         9 . The rod implant as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said tubular plates and said cylindrical rod section are constructed in one piece and said tubular plates are generally rectangular in shape.  
     
     
         10 . The rod implant as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said tubular plates at each end of said solid cylindrical rod and said solid cylindrical rod are generally adapted to have an alignment in conformity with the end of the bone to which it is to be attached and wherein said angular plane between said solid cyndrical rod and said tubular plate varies in accordance with the angle between said tubular section and the fractured bone fragment to which it is to be attached.  
     
     
         11 . The rod implant as claimed in  claim 1  wherein said implant is sufficiently pliable to be contoured to the shape of the long bone to be repaired, sufficiently strong to provide support for weight bearing bones during mobility and sufficiently long to span the fracture zone and be secured at the extremities of the long bone to which it is to be attached.  
     
     
         12 . A rod implant according to  claim 1  wherein said implant is made of an inert material which is capable of providing a stable means of support to fractured long bones during the healing process and wherein said inert material is selected from the group consisting of stainless steel, titanium or other suitable inert material and wherein said solid cylindrical rod is designed to be sufficiently strong to provide support to said fractured bone and withstand stress bending on weight bearing long bones.