Dissecting high speed burr for spinal surgery

Abstract

A rotatable surgical burr ( 100, 200, 300, 500 ) having a protective hood ( 120, 220, 320, 520, 620, 720 ) with a dissecting foot plate ( 119, 219, 319, 519, 619, 719 ) is provided to improve and enable various spinal decompression procedures. The surgical burr's protective hood has a dissecting foot plate that may be shaped to resemble a curette, a Woodson, or other appropriate dissecting tools to allow insertion of the tool between the spinal nerve and the compressing bone. The protective hood surrounds the burr bit ( 130, 230, 530 ) exposing only a portion of the burr bit for burring of the offending bone and protects the nerve from the burr tip. The instrument may also be configured with a soft tissue resecting tip ( 330 ) for soft tissue resection.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A surgical instrument comprising:
 a hand piece having a distal end and a proximal end; 
 a shaft portion extending from the distal end of the hand piece and having a distal end and a proximal end; 
 a drive shaft disposed for rotation within the shaft portion, the drive shaft having a distal end and a proximal end thereof; 
 a surgical tool bit connected to the distal end of the drive shaft; 
 a protective hood including a dissecting foot plate portion connected to the distal end of the shaft portion, wherein the surgical tool bit resides within the protective hood, partially exposed, and the protective hood is rotatable relative to the surgical tool bit exposing a different portion of the surgical tool bit; and 
 a rotatable member provided in the hand piece, said rotatable member operably connected to the proximal end of the shaft portion and manipulation of the rotatable member controls the rotation of the protective hood relative to the hand piece and the drive shaft via the shaft portion; and 
 a flexible neck portion connecting the protective hood to the distal end of the shaft portion, wherein the drive shaft comprises a flexible drive shaft portion at the distal end thereof and extending through the flexible neck portion to connect to the surgical tool bit, 
 wherein the flexible neck portion is communicatingly connected to the hand piece and the flexible neck portion's flexing motion is actuated and controlled from the hand piece. 
 
     
     
       2. The surgical instrument of  claim 1 , wherein the dissecting foot plate portion has a length of about 1 to 8 mm. 
     
     
       3. The surgical instrument of  claim 1 , further comprising a flexible neck portion connecting the protective hood to the distal end of the shaft portion, wherein the drive shaft comprises a flexible drive shaft portion at the distal end thereof and extending through the flexible neck portion to connect to the surgical tool bit. 
     
     
       4. The surgical instrument of  claim 3 , wherein the flexible neck portion is communicatingly connected to the hand piece and the flexible neck portion's flexing motion is actuated and controlled from the hand piece. 
     
     
       5. The surgical instrument of claim  3  1, wherein the flexible drive shaft portion is made of Nitinol alloy. 
     
     
       6. The surgical instrument of  claim 1 , wherein the shaft portion is a rigid member. 
     
     
       7. The surgical instrument of  claim 1 , wherein the surgical tool bit is a bone removing bit. 
     
     
       8. The surgical instrument of  claim 1 , wherein the surgical tool bit is a soft tissue resecting bit. 
     
     
       9. The surgical instrument of  claim 1 , wherein the rotatable member is a thumb wheel. 
     
     
       10. A surgical instrument comprising:
 a hand piece having a distal end and a proximal end; 
 a power drive mechanism provided within the hand piece; 
 a shaft portion extending from the distal end of the hand piece and having a distal end and a proximal end; 
 a drive shaft disposed for rotation within the shaft portion, the drive shaft having a distal end and a proximal end thereof, wherein the proximal end is connected to the power drive mechanism; 
 a surgical tool bit connected to the distal end of the drive shaft; 
 a protective hood including a dissecting foot plate portion attached to the distal end of the shaft portion, wherein the surgical tool bit resides within the protective hood, partially exposed, and the protective hood is rotatable relative to the surgical tool bit exposing a different portion of the surgical tool bit; and 
 a rotatable member provided in the hand piece, said rotatable member operably connected to the proximal end of the shaft portion and manipulation of the rotatable member controls the rotation of the protective hood relative to the hand piece and the drive shaft via the shaft portion; and 
 a flexible neck portion connecting the protective hood to the distal end of the shaft portion, wherein the drive shaft comprises a flexible drive shaft portion at the distal end thereof and extending through the flexible neck portion to connect to the surgical tool bit, 
 wherein the flexible neck portion is communicatingly connected to the hand piece and the flexible neck portion's flexing motion is actuated and controlled from the hand piece. 
 
     
     
       11. The surgical instrument of  claim 10 , further comprising a flexible neck portion connecting the protective hood to the distal end of the shaft portion, wherein the drive shaft comprises a flexible drive shaft portion at the distal end thereof and extending through the flexible neck portion to connect to the surgical tool bit. 
     
     
       12. The surgical instrument of  claim 11 , wherein the flexible neck portion is communicatingly connected to the hand piece and the flexible neck portion's flexing motion is actuated and controlled from the hand piece. 
     
     
       13. The surgical instrument of claim  11  10, wherein the flexible drive shaft portion is made of Nitinol alloy. 
     
     
       14. The surgical instrument of  claim 10 , wherein the shaft portion is a rigid member. 
     
     
       15. The surgical instrument of  claim 10 , wherein the surgical tool bit is a bone removing bit. 
     
     
       16. The surgical instrument of  claim 10 , wherein the surgical tool bit is a soft tissue resecting bit. 
     
     
       17. The surgical instrument of  claim 10 , wherein the rotatable member is a thumb wheel.