Bone crusher and method for bone crushing

Abstract

An apparatus for bone milling includes a housing defining a first opening, a second opening opposite the first opening, and a linear passage from the first opening to the second opening. The linear passage has a first surface with third opening there through and a second surface transverse to the first surface. A rotatable grinding member is insertable through the third opening to partially block the linear passage. The rotatable grinding member is positioned at a distance from the second surface of the linear passage corresponding to a predetermined bone chip size.

1 . An apparatus for bone milling, comprising: 
 a housing defining a first opening, a second opening opposite the first opening, and a linear passage from the first opening to the second opening, the linear passage having a first surface with third opening there through and a second surface transverse to the first surface;    a rotatable grinding member insertable through the third opening to partially block the linear passage, the rotatable grinding member being positioned at a distance from the second surface of the linear passage corresponding to a predetermined bone chip size.    
     
     
         2 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising an actuator element having a first end and a second end opposite the first end, wherein the first end is removably coupled to the housing.  
     
     
         3 . The apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein the actuator element defines a channel adapted to contain at least a portion of the rotatable grinding member therein.  
     
     
         4 . The apparatus according to  claim 3 , where the channel extends substantially from the first end to the second end.  
     
     
         5 . The apparatus according to  claim 4 , wherein the rotatable grinding member is removable from the channel and the linear passage of the housing while the actuator remains coupled to the housing.  
     
     
         6 . The apparatus according to  claim 5 , wherein an actuator cap is removably coupleable with the second end of the actuator element.  
     
     
         7 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising a receptacle removably coupled to the second opening.  
     
     
         8 . The apparatus according to  claim 7 , wherein the receptacle has a first end and a second end opposite the first end, the second end having a substantially larger surface area than the first end.  
     
     
         9 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the housing includes one or more ridges disposed about at least a portion of the surface of the housing.  
     
     
         10 . The apparatus according to  claim 8 , wherein the receptacle further includes an alignment element for engagement with a corresponding element on the housing.  
     
     
         11 . The apparatus according to  claim 10 , wherein the alignment element on the receptacle is one of a groove and a raised projection.  
     
     
         12 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the rotatable grinding member includes a spiral-oriented plurality of grooves that provide a respective plurality of cutting edges.  
     
     
         13 . The apparatus according to  claim 12 , wherein the rotatable grinding member is removably coupled to an actuator element, the actuator element having a first end and a second end opposite the first end, wherein the first end is removably coupled to the housing.  
     
     
         14 . The apparatus according to  claim 1 , further including a plunger dimensioned to be removably insertable into the first opening of the housing.  
     
     
         15 . The apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein the apparatus further comprises a coupling element engageable with the housing and the actuator element to keep the actuator element coupled to the housing during operation.  
     
     
         16 . The apparatus according to  claim 15 , wherein the housing further includes at least one slot, and wherein the coupling element has: 
 at least one projection engageable with a corresponding at least one slot to removeably couple the coupling element with the housing; and    at least one shoulder to engage the actuator element.    
     
     
         17 . An apparatus for bone milling, comprising: 
 a housing defining a first opening, a second opening opposite the first opening, and a linear passage from the first opening to the second opening,    a rotatable grinding member traversing at least a portion of the linear passage; and    an actuator element defining a first end, a second end opposite the first end and a channel extending from the first end to the second end;    the channel being adapted to contain at least a portion of the rotatable grinding member therein, the first end being removably coupled to the housing and the rotatable grinding member being removable from the channel through the second end of the actuator element while the actuator element remains coupled to the housing.    
     
     
         18 . The apparatus according to  claim 17 , wherein the rotatable grinding member includes a spiral-oriented plurality of grooves that provide a respective plurality of cutting edges.  
     
     
         19 . The apparatus according to  claim 18 , wherein the housing further includes at least one slot, and wherein the apparatus further comprises a coupling element, the coupling element having: 
 at least one projection engageable with a corresponding at least one slot to removeably couple the coupling element with the housing; and    at least one shoulder to engage the actuator element.    
     
     
         20 . A method for milling bone, comprising the steps of: 
 inserting bone to be milled into a bone milling apparatus, the apparatus being comprised of: 
 a housing defining a first opening, a second opening opposite the first opening, and a linear passage from the first opening to the second opening, the linear passage having a first surface with third opening there through and a second surface transverse to the first surface; and  
 a rotatable grinding member insertable through the third opening to partially block the linear passage, the rotatable grinding member being positioned at a distance from the second surface of the linear passage corresponding to a predetermined bone chip size;  
 a plunger; and  
 a milled material receptacle removably coupled to the second opening; placing the plunger in the first opening of the apparatus to force the bone towards the rotatable grinding member,  
   operating the actuator element to rotate the rotatable grinding member, thereby milling the bone, and    collecting the milled material in the milled material receptacle.