Expandable interbody fusion device
US7967867B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 31, 2007 |
| Grant date | Jun 28, 2011 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 27, 2030 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA61F2250/0063
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An expandable interbody fusion device includes superior and inferior endplates that are configured to receive a sequentially inserted stack of interlocking expansion members or wafers. The like-configured wafers include features on their top and bottom surfaces that interlock the wafers in multiple degrees of freedom so that the wafer stack is not disrupted when the fusion device is fully expanded. One of the interlocking features includes a plurality of prongs projecting from an upper surface of the wafers and into a recess defined in the lower surface of an adjacent previously inserted like-configured wafer. The prongs and recesses are configured to prevent retrograde movement of each new wafer in a direction opposite the direction of insertion. Other interlocking features prevent movement in the direction of insertion, transverse to the insertion direction and vertically within the stack.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.