In the case of bone fixation devices, particularly bone plates, the problem arises of fastening these devices by means of suitable, longitudinal bone fixation means, such as bone screws, bone wires, bone pins or Kirschner wires, to the bone fragments, so that the longitudinal bone fixation means have a particular direction with respect to the bone fixation device, especially, a specific angle to the bone fixation device. This problem arises principally in the case of bone plates, which consist of a plastic and do not yet have any plate boreholes, for example, the bone plate of International patent publication WO 01/012081.
A device with a centering sleeve for setting the bone fixation means at a plastic plate is known from the German publication DE-U 200 19 026. This known device comprises a targeting bracket, at which a bone plate can be attached by fastening means, and a guiding part, which can be shifted at the targeting bracket and shifted and rotated relative to the bone plate. The single guiding part is tubular in construction and serves to center and guide surgical instruments and/or implants. The tubular configuration of the guiding part permits only one bone fixation means to be accommodated. In the event that, for example, several Kirschner wires are to be set at one bone plate, the guiding part must be shifted and aligned once again with respect to the targeting bracket for each Kirschner wire, which is to be set. This results in the expenditure of much time for setting, for example, four Kirschner wires.
The invention is to provide a remedy here. It is an object of the invention to create a targeting device, which, on the one hand, permits drilling instruments or drill guide sleeves to be positioned in a previously determined direction with respect to the bone and/or, on the other, permits the surgeon to bring longitudinal bone-fixation means (Kirschner wires) into the bone in a previously determined direction, preferably in a direction in which they diverge from one another.