A device for cutting soft tissues in the body, such as a transverse carpal ligament in a hand, includes a handle, a shaft, a cutting device on or in the shaft (e.g., a blade or radiofrequency electrodes), and a single expansion band or bowing flanges that bow out laterally to form a safe zone. The expansion band or bowing flanges is/are movable between an expanded configuration and a retracted configuration using a slidable actuator on the handle.

An adapter apparatus for a cable saw or similar cutting implement includes a hub adapter that may detachably engage a mounting hub of a power tool. A pair of lateral arms extend outward on opposing sides of the hub adapter to a connection interface of the cable saw. The connection interface engages opposing wire ends of the cable saw and provides for a cutting operation in response to an oscillating motion of the power tool.

Systems and methods are disclosed for harvesting tissue from a donor site. Exemplary embodiments include a first and second conduit through which a flexible saw component is guided. Certain embodiments include a mechanism which facilitates insertion of the flexible cutting member component parallel to the transverse plane and slicing the graft parallel to the coronal plane to extract the graft.

A surgical saw for use in cutting bone. The saw may include a cutting member that is rotated about a drive pulley, an idler pulley, and first and second guide members. The guide members are in contact with an outer perimeter surface of a bone to be cut. The guide members may be moveable in opposite directions relative to the outer perimeter surface. In turn, the cutting member may be engaged with the bone in response to the movement of the guide members. The guide members may move along the outer perimeter surface of the bone until the cutting member has been moved through an entire cross-section of a bone to separate the bone. The saw may be initially inserted in a bore created in the bone to dispose the idler pulley at an opposite side of the bone as the drive pulley when commencing the cutting operation.

The invention provides a targeting device suitable for use in removing a femoral implant from the surrounding tissue, wherein the device comprises: (A) an anterior guide member (1), (B) a posterior guide member (4), (C) an engagement member (7), (D) a first pair of parallel connector rails (509, 510), and (E) an adjustment system (13). When the anterior guide member and the posterior guide member are connected by the first pair of connector rails, via the engagement member, the angled channels of the anterior guide member and the posterior guide member converge in the direction of a distal end, with the convergence angle of the angled channels being in the range of from 2 to 6 degrees, such as from 2 to 5 degrees.

A method of evaluating a human knee joint including a femur bone, a tibia bone, and ligaments. The method includes: inserting into the joint a tensioner-balancer that includes at least one force sensor; providing an electronic receiving device; moving the knee joint through at least a portion of its range of motion; using the electronic receiving device to collect data from the at least one force sensor; processing the collected force data to produce a digital geometric model of the knee joint, wherein the data includes: a medial spline representing a locus of points of contact of a medial condyle of the femur F with the tensioner-balancer, over a range of knee flexion angles; and a lateral spline representing the locus of points of contact of the femur F with the tensioner-balancer, over a range of knee flexion angles; and storing the digital geometric model for further use.

A surgical preparation tool for preparing a sacroiliac joint for a surgical procedure comprising a trial tool assembly and a cutting tool configured to releasably and slidably couple with the trial tool assembly, wherein the trial tool assembly is configured to guide the cutting tool during distal-proximal translation such that as the cutting tool distally advances relative to an implant trial of the trial tool assembly, at least a portion of a cutting element of the cutting tool extends generally over and perpendicularly outward from a first top surface of a body of the implant trial.

Improved chain saws, components for chain saws, methods of making chain saws and components, and methods of using chain saws and components are disclosed. In some embodiments, a chain saw comprises a saw bar and a plurality of links, wherein a first link has a hook that engages a recess of a second link, thereby coupling the first link and the second link and allowing them to articulate without decoupling. The saw bar may have a rail, and the links may have grooves such that the links straddle and ride over the rail. The rail may have a projection and the grooves of the links may have notches accommodating the projection such that the projection prevents dislocation of the links. The links may have conical or pyramidal cutting teeth. The chain may be bidirectional. Robotic and automated operation of saws and other instruments are also disclosed.

Sensing technology methods related thereto for determining cut through of bone and a depth of penetration of a working portion of a surgical instrument (e.g., an oscillating saw blade in a cut). A first sensor outputs a first signal representative of a displacement of the cutting edge of the saw blade in the cut. A second sensor outputs a second signal representative of a force applied to the cutting edge of the saw blade. As such, monitoring the first and/or second sensor may allow for the saw to be stopped upon completion of a cut (e.g., when the saw passes completely through a medium to be cut or upon reaching a predetermined depth for the cut).

A method of surgically preparing a sacroiliac joint comprising: a) approaching a sacroiliac joint space with a joint preparation tool comprising a cutting element including an exterior having an asymmetric cutting band such that the first side includes a first surface having a first texture and the second side includes a second surface having a second texture, the first and second textures being different such that the first texture is substantially smoother than the second texture; and b) delivering at least a portion of the cutting element non-transversely into the sacroiliac joint space for decortication, the cutting element being oriented in the sacroiliac joint space such that the first surface opposes the generally softer sacrum and the second surface opposes the generally harder ilium in order to more aggressively prepare the surface of the ilium while not over-preparing the sacrum to provide a robust biologic environment for intra-articular fusion.