Paragraph Number

141

Next, a parallel distractor 1500 such as the exemplary parallel distractor 1500 illustrated in FIG. 15 is used to distract the first metatarsus 230 relative to the first cuneiform 210. The user slides holes 1502a,b over pins 1280a,b and holes 1502c,d over pins 1280e,f. This causes a desired rotation and translation of the first metatarsus 230 relative to the first cuneiform 210. When a user places the parallel distractor 1500 on over these pins 1280a,b,e,f this forces the cut faces of the two bones to become parallel. Advantageously, the cut faces of the two bones can be forced to become parallel because the position, orientation, and angles of the holes 1278 and/or holes of either or both of the alignment feature 1260a and alignment feature 1260b can be predefined and customized for each patient when the cutting guide 1300 is fabricated. This alignment enables parallel compression of the two bones together using the parallel distractor 1500. Parallel compression enables more effective compression of the two bones together. Next, the space between the resected surfaces of the first cuneiform 210 and the first metatarsus 230 is prepared for fusion. Then, the parallel distractor 1500 is activated such that the first cuneiform 210 and the first metatarsus 230 are fused together.

Added by DJM 7 2021