Methods and apparatus for performing therapeutic procedures in the spine
US7309338B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | May 6, 2003 |
| Grant date | Dec 18, 2007 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 20, 2024 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S606/912
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for forming one or more trans-sacral axial instrumentation/fusion (TASIF) axial bore through vertebral bodies in general alignment with a visualized, anterior or posterior axial instrumentation/fusion line (AAIFL or PAIFL) in a minimally invasive, low trauma, manner and providing a therapy to the spine employing the axial bore. Anterior or posterior starting positions aligned with the AAIFL or PAIFL are accessed through respective anterior and posterior tracts. Curved or relatively straight anterior and curved posterior TASIF axial bores are formed from the anterior and posterior starting positions. The therapies performed through the TASIF axial bores include discoscopy, full and partial discectomy, vertebroplasty, balloon-assisted vertebroplasty, drug delivery, electrical stimulation and various forms of spinal disc cavity augmentation, spinal disc replacement, fusion of spinal motion segments and implantation of radioactive seeds. Axial spinal implants and bone growth materials can be placed into single or multiple parallel or diverging TASIF axial bores to fuse two or more vertebrae, or distract or shock absorb two or more vertebrae.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.