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This is a record of a document published elsewhere, first published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, as US-5971987-A, on 26 October 1999. OpenTechnical did not first disclose it. The identifier, hashes and timestamps below record what this library served and when, not when the material became public. View the original.

OT-2026-000003170

Biocompatible absorbable polymer fastener and driver for use in surgical procedures

Published
Permanent URL
Classification
Tools & Tooling › Fastening Tools
Assignee
ETHICON INC
Original source
US-5971987-A, the United States Patent and Trademark Office, 26 October 1999
Document SHA-256
2f02813e9ceab5af7528695e57a7e3c90966d64e8010d1e3cf1647894cabc705

A biocompatible fastener that may be used for attachment of a fixation plate to bone is described herein, where the fastener has features that facilitate its deployment in a surgical environment. The fastener is composed of a screw, having a threaded shaft and slotted head, and a detachable body that is used for deploying the screw and is then broken away and discarded. The slot in the head of the screw has stress concentrating notch features that direct the fracture lines into the screw head upon detachment of the secondary body, thus ensuring that the screw head surface remains smooth after deployment. A suitable driver for applying the fastener is also described.

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Abstract

A biocompatible fastener that may be used for attachment of a fixation plate to bone is described herein, where the fastener has features that facilitate its deployment in a surgical environment. The fastener is composed of a screw, having a threaded shaft and slotted head, and a detachable body that is used for deploying the screw and is then broken away and discarded. The slot in the head of the screw has stress concentrating notch features that direct the fracture lines into the screw head upon detachment of the secondary body, thus ensuring that the screw head surface remains smooth after deployment. A suitable driver for applying the fastener is also described.

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Publication information

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Citation

OpenTechnical Publication OT-2026-000003170, “Biocompatible absorbable polymer fastener and driver for use in surgical procedures,” published September 15, 2026 at 19:42:59 UTC, https://opentechnical.org/p/OT-2026-000003170.

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