MEDICAL CUTTING DEVICES WITH A STATIC CASING AND A BLADE WORKING BODY OF GREATER WIDTH AND RELATED METHODS

Abstract

Medical devices and related methods for transforming bone, other tissue, or other material are disclosed herein. According to an aspect, a cutting device includes a static casing having a width of substantially a first distance. The cutting device also includes a blade working body including a first end and a second end. The first end is configured to operatively connect to a source of movement. The second end includes a cutting component. The blade working body has a width of substantially a second distance, wherein the second distance is greater than the first distance.

Claims

1. A cutting device comprising: a static casing having a width of substantially a first distance; and a blade working body including a first end and a second end, the first end being configured to operatively connect to a source of movement, the second end including a cutting component, wherein the blade working body has a width of substantially a second distance, wherein the second distance is greater than the first distance.

2. The cutting device of claim 1, wherein the cutting component comprises a curved cutting portion.

3. The cutting device of claim 1, wherein the cutting component comprises a serrated portion.

4. The cutting device of claim 1, wherein the second end of the blade working body extends beyond the static casing.

5. The cutting device of claim 1, wherein the static casing includes a first end and a second end, wherein the first end of the static casing is attached to the source of movement and substantially stationary with respect to the source of movement.

6. The cutting device of claim 5, wherein the second end of the static casing opposing the first end of the static casing.

7. The cutting device of claim 6, wherein the second end of the static casing defines a curved shape.

8. The cutting device of claim 1, wherein the blade working body is substantially flat with a first surface and a second surface.

9. The cutting device of claim 8, wherein the first surface of the blade working body faces the static casing, and wherein the first surface of the blade working body is spaced apart from the static casing.

10. The cutting device of claim 9, wherein the static casing defines an opening.

12. The cutting device of claim 1, wherein the width of the blade working body is a first width, wherein the blade working body defines a portion that extends between the first end and the second end of the blade working body, wherein the portion has a second width that is less than the first width.

13. The cutting device of claim 12, wherein the static casing defines a protrusion that extends to an area adjacent the portion of the blade working body.

14. The cutting device of claim 13, wherein the protrusion is a first protrusion, wherein the static casing defines a second protrusion that extends to an area adjacent the portion of the blade working body and on a side of the portion that opposes a position of the first protrusion.

15. The cutting device of claim 1, wherein the wherein the static casing defines an opening, and wherein the blade working body defines a protrusion that extends to an area within the opening.

16. A method of cutting comprising: providing a cutting device comprising: a static casing having a width of substantially a first distance; and a blade working body including a first end and a second end, the second end including a cutting component, wherein the blade working body has a width of substantially a second distance, wherein the second distance is greater than the first distance; and applying movement to the first end of the blade working body for effecting movement of the cutting component of the second end.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the second end of the blade working body extends beyond the static casing.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the blade working body is substantially flat with a first surface and a second surface.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the first surface of the blade working body faces the static casing, and wherein the first surface of the blade working body is spaced apart from the static casing.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the width of the blade working body is a first width, wherein the blade working body defines a portion that extends between the first end and the second end of the blade working body, wherein the portion has a second width that is less than the first width.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] Having thus described the presently disclosed subject matter in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying Drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:

[0016] FIGS. 1 - 4 illustrate a top perspective view, a top view, and another top view of a cutting device in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0017] FIGS. 5 - 14 illustrate views of the static casing and/or the cutting end blade working body without the handle and housing of FIGS. 1 - 4;

[0018] FIGS. 15-17 illustrate various views of the device being operated to cut into bone in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0019] FIGS. 18-25 illustrate different view of a static casing and a cutting end and a blade working body without a handle and housing for ease of illustration;

[0020] FIGS. 26 - 30 illustrate different views of a top static casing and a bottom static casing with a cutting end of a blade working body without a handle and housing for ease of illustration; and

[0021] FIGS. 31 - 33 illustrate different views of a cutting device (without the handle for ease of illustration) similar to the cutting device of FIG. 5.

SUMMARY

[0022] The presently disclosed subject matter medical cutting devices with a static casing and a blade working body of greater width and related methods. According to an aspect, a cutting device includes a static casing having a width of substantially a first distance. The cutting device also includes a blade working body including a first end and a second end. The first end is configured to operatively connect to a source of movement. The second end includes a cutting component. The blade working body has a width of substantially a second distance. The second distance is greater than the first distance.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] The following detailed description is made with reference to the figures. Exemplary embodiments are described to illustrate the disclosure, not to limit its scope, which is defined by the claims. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize a number of equivalent variations in the description that follows.

[0024] Articles “a” and “an” are used herein to refer to one or to more than one (i.e. at least one) of the grammatical object of the article. By way of example, “an element” means at least one element and can include more than one element.

[0025] “About” is used to provide flexibility to a numerical endpoint by providing that a given value may be “slightly above” or “slightly below” the endpoint without affecting the desired result.

[0026] The use herein of the terms “including,” “comprising,” or “having,” and variations thereof is meant to encompass the elements listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional elements. Embodiments recited as “including,” “comprising,” or “having” certain elements are also contemplated as “consisting essentially of” and “consisting” of those certain elements.

[0027] Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. For example, if a range is stated as between 1% - 50%, it is intended that values such as between 2% - 40%, 10% - 30%, or 1% - 3%, etc. are expressly enumerated in this specification. These are only examples of what is specifically intended, and all possible combinations of numerical values between and including the lowest value and the highest value enumerated are to be considered to be expressly stated in this disclosure.

[0028] Unless otherwise defined, all technical terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0029] As referred to herein, the term “cutting device” can be any suitable component movable for cutting into or generally transforming a material (e.g., bone). The cutting device can include a blade that operates through large or small (e.g., vibrations) mechanical motion. The motion can be in a specific direction(s). For example, the cutting device can be moved in an oscillating manner, flexing, bending, rotating, torsionally, longitudinally, and the like.

[0030] FIGS. 1 - 4 illustrate a top perspective view, a top view, and another top view of a cutting device 100 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to FIGS. 1 - 4, the device 100 includes handle 101, a housing 102, and a static casing 104. Although these components are not shown in FIG. 1, the housing 102 may contain in an interior space therein for components, such as any suitable transducer or motor, to produce a desired mechanical motion with a cutting end, generally designated 106. It is noted that in this example the device 100 is described as being an oscillating saw blade, but it may alternatively be of any other suitable type (e.g., such as an ultrasonic transducer driving the blade through piezoelectric elements and smaller vibrations). The oscillating motor, which may be suitably powered to produce motion through the working surface of the blade to its blade edge, can be operatively attached to an end of a blade working body 108 that is closest to the housing 102. Oscillatory motion produced by the transducer/motor can propagate along a main body of the blade working body 108 towards an end of the blade working body 108 that opposes the end of the blade working body 108 that is attached to the oscillatory transducer/motor. It is noted that any other suitable motion may be produced alternative to mechanical oscillations such as those produced by traditional bone saws (e.g., such as those produced by ultrasonic cutting devices that use smaller scale vibrations). The static casing 104 can sheath and support a lower portion of the blade working body 108. The static casing 104 and the blade working body 108 can be spaced from each other by an air gap or otherwise be in direct contact to support the blade throughout the cutting process separated from each other by a suitable material, such as a lubrication film. The static casing 104 can be stationary or at least substantially stationary with respect to a source of movement. The air gap can reduce transfer of energy from the blade working body 108 and, thus, heat to the static casing 104. It is noted that the casing 104 may be made of any suitable insulative material, such as ceramic/polymer or any other suitable medical grade material, for preventing or minimizing heat transfer to the bone. Air can be present around the casing and/or blade.

[0031] The cutting end 106 can be a blade tip configured to cut, ablate, abrade or otherwise transform, for example, bone or other tissue. The cutting end 106 includes a top surface 110 and an opposing bottom surface. The cutting end 106 defines at least one blade edge 112. In this example, the blade edge 112 has serrations for cutting, ablating, abrading, or otherwise transforming bone or other tissue. In the alternative, the blade edge 112 is a continuous, planar arc, and sharpened along its entirety for cutting, ablating, abrading, or otherwise transforming bone or other tissue.

[0032] The static casing 104 may be made of a material suitable for biomedical applications, such as ceramic, titanium, stainless steel, PEEK, PE, PTFE, or the like. The outer surface of the static casing 104 may be coated with a lubricant, such as a solid film or a fluid film, and/or any other insulative material. The blade working body 108 may be made of a material suitable for biomedical applications, such as titanium, stainless steel or the like. In embodiments, a lubrication film may cover the blade working body 108 and may be made of a solid film lubricant, or other suitable lubricant. Further, for example, static casing 104 may be coated with a lubrication film, such lubrication film being a solid film lubricant suitable for the application. The static casing 104 and the blade working body may be coated with the lubrication film.

[0033] It is noted that alternative to a blade working body 108, this component may be suitably configured as a horn for ultrasonic embodiments. Similar to the aforementioned description of the oscillating saw blade embodiment, an ultrasonic bone cutting device could leverage the same mechanism of preventing temperature from translating to the adjacent bone. The ultrasonic bone cutting device would still include a housing/handpiece that drives the working surface of the blade in a desired motion (e.g., longitudinal). The static casing would be rigidly attached/mounted to the housing which would decouple the dynamic motion of the ultrasonic blade relative to the static casing itself. The working surface of the ultrasonic blade would still be supported by the static casing since they would reside in contact adjacent to one another. The working surface of the ultrasonic blade can oscillate on the static casing, which can be made of an insulative material with material properties that minimize frictional sliding interactions. Similarly, a lubrication boundary may be included between the static casing and working surface of the blade to decrease friction during motion.

[0034] FIGS. 5 - 14 illustrate views of the static casing 104 and/or the cutting end 106 blade working body 108 without the handle 101 and housing 102 of FIGS. 1 - 4. Particularly, FIG. 5 shows a top view, and FIG. 6 is a side view. FIG. 7 shows a zoomed-in, side view that includes an example of lubrication film 600 between the static casing 104 and the blade working body 108 for reducing friction. FIG. 8 is a zoomed-in, top perspective view of the cutting end 106 with the static casing 104 shown in phantom, because it is located at different side of the blade working body 108. FIG. 9 shows a top perspective view with the static casing 104 shown in phantom, because it is located at different side of the blade working body 108. FIG. 10 shows a top perspective view of the cutting end 106 and blade working body 108. FIG. 11 shows the static casing 104 and/or the cutting end 106 / blade working body 108 as spaced apart. FIG. 12 shows a top view.

[0035] FIGS. 13 and 14 show the cutting end 106 at a furthest left position and a furthest right position, respectively, during operation of movement. Referring to FIGS. 13 and 14, double-arrow 1300 shows the directions of back-and-forth movement of the cutting end 106 in operation. Referring again to FIGS. 3 and 4, these figures also show the cutting end 106 at a furthest left position and a furthest right position, respectively, during operation of movement.

[0036] In accordance with embodiments, the static casing 104 may be used for receiving a load force applied by bone or other tissue when the blade tip is cutting, ablating, abrading, or otherwise transforming the bone or other tissue. This may be when the cutting end 106 is deflected by force applied to it towards the static casing 104. For example, FIGS. 15-17 illustrate various views of the device being operated to cut into bone 1600 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. It is noted that FIGS. 16-17 only show an end of the device. Referring to FIG. 15, the figure depicts a side view that shows a point in time just before the blade edge 112 reaches the bone. FIG. 16 shows a point in time at which the blade edge 112 has initially cut into the bone 1600. FIG. 17 is another side view that shows the blade edge 112 having cut deeper into the bone 1600 than shown in FIG. 16.

[0037] FIGS. 18-25 illustrate different view of a static casing 1800 and a cutting end 1802 and a blade working body 1804 without a handle and housing for ease of illustration. It is noted that this application may be oscillatory saw blade or any other suitable application. The cutting end 1802 includes a blade 1806, which extends wider than the static casing 1800. FIG. 18 is a top perspective view. FIG. 19 is a top view with the cutting end 1802 in a furthest left position during operation. FIG. 20 is a top view with the cutting end 1802 in a furthest right position during operation. FIG. 21 is a zoomed-in, top perspective view. FIG. 22 is another bottom view. FIG. 23 shows an exploded view. FIG. 24 is another top view. FIG. 25 is a bottom view.

[0038] With continuing reference to FIGS. 18 - 25, the static casing 1800 defines to protrusions 1808 and 1810 that extend along beside the blade working body 1804. The protrusions 1808 and 1810 extend along respective sides of the blade working body 1804 for supporting the upper part/opposing end/adjacent side of the cutting plane of the blade working body 1804 and/or blade 1806 from contacting bone or other material being cut.

[0039] FIGS. 26 - 30 illustrate different views of a top static casing 2606 and a bottom static casing 2602 with a cutting end 2604 of a blade working body 2600 without a handle and housing for ease of illustration. It is noted that this may be an oscillatory saw blade application or any other suitable application. The cutting end 2604 has a blade 2608. FIG. 26 is a side view. FIG. 27 is another side view in close up. FIG. 28 is a top perspective view. FIG. 29 is a top view. FIG. 30 is an exploded view. The top static casing 2606 and a bottom static casing 2602 operate in the same manner to protect both sides of the cutting plane rather than just one selective side as described in the previous embodiments. The top static casing 2606 and a bottom static casing 2602 can sheath and support the upper / lower portion of the blade working body. The top static casing 2606 and a bottom static casing 2602 and the blade working body 2600 can be spaced from each other by an air gap or otherwise be in direct contact to support the blade throughout the cutting process separated from each other by a suitable material, such as a lubrication film. The air gap can reduce transfer of energy from the blade working body 2600 and, thus, top static casing 2606 and a bottom static casing 2602 and therefore the surrounding bone. It is noted that the top static casing 2606 and a bottom static casing 2602 may be made of any suitable insulative material, such as ceramic/polymer, or medical grade materials for preventing or minimizing heat transfer to the bone. Air can be present around the casing and/or blade.

[0040] FIGS. 31 - 33 illustrate different views of a cutting device (without the handle for ease of illustration) similar to the cutting device of FIG. 5. Referring to FIGS. 31 - 33, the static casing 104, the cutting end 106, blade working surface/body of the blade 108, and blade edge 112 are shown similar to the embodiment of FIG. 5. An opening, generally designated 500, of the static casing 104 of FIG. 5 provides relief for bone debris, bone only supports the lower half of the blade (it is selective to preventing damaging temperatures only on the one side of the cutting plane). The embodiment of FIGS. 31 - 33 provides a protrusion 3100 from the static casing 104 into the opening 500 for supporting the upper part of the blade working surface/body of the blade 108 and/or blade 112 from contacting bone or other material being cut. In the alternative, this device may be ultrasonic. The protrusion 3100 may provide loading sharing support for preventing binding. This may be similar to other described embodiments for providing cutting more efficient in general outside of temperature. The protrusion 3100 may function as a support column or wedge to help with cutting (e.g., although the lower half of the static casing would prevent conduction of heat, the protrusion would support bone on the adjacent side of the cutting plane, therefore, preventing binding of the blade during the cutting process).

[0041] It is noted that embodiments of the present disclosure are described as producing or having oscillatory saw blade movement or any other suitable source for motion. It is noted that in the alternative the movement may be any suitable type of movement produced by any suitable source (e.g., such as an ultrasonic transducer driving the blade through piezoelectric elements and smaller vibrations)). Further, cutting may be applied to any suitable material or technical field. Suitable mechanical sources could include anything from piezoceramics, electro-mechanical motors, user generated hand motion, etc. However, its important to note that all types of mechanisms can produce equivalent types of movements. These could include, but are not limited to, axial motion, bending motion, torsional motion, flexural motion, etc. It is also feasible that the source of mechanical motion can combine all of these modes of motion to create more complex movements. Regardless of the motion and/or the manner in which it is produced, there would be a resultant motion at the end of the functional device/blade edge. This motion would, under the claims of this patent, be captured within the bounds of the static casing which function to share load, decouple motion, and prevent heat transfer to the functional working surfaces. Examples include oscillating/sagittal/reciprocating medical bone cutting saws, medical rotary drills, medical rotary burs, construction hammer drills, construction rotary hammer, wood cutting axes, construction oscillating multi-tools, oscillating medical cast saws, cutting saws, etc. The principles of the claims presented in this patent could be applied to all of these devices with equivalently realized benefits.

[0042] While the embodiments have been described in connection with the various embodiments of the various figures, it is to be understood that other similar embodiments may be used, or modifications and additions may be made to the described embodiment for performing the same function without deviating therefrom. Therefore, the disclosed embodiments should not be limited to any single embodiment, but rather should be construed in breadth and scope in accordance with the appended claims.