Image Number 4 for United States Patent #6969391.
A clamp designed for use in the heart-surgery field for osteosynthesis following on sternotomy has a roughly C-shaped configuration with a core (11) terminating at opposite ends with hooks (12) set opposite to one another. In the centre, the said core (11) extends vertically according to a plane which is substantially perpendicular to the one on which the end hooks (12) lie, with a loop (13) which is elastically compliant. The said clamp is made of a so-called "shape-memory" metallic alloy, i.e., an alloy which is malleable at a low temperature and which re-acquires its original form at body temperature, exerting a semi-rigid compression on the ends or edges of the bones requiring synthesis.
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