Expandable device
AssigneeMUSC Foundation for Research Development
InventorsStephen Kalhorn, Mark E. Semler, Joseph Ruscito, Christopher Hapstack
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention provides expandable devices and insertion tools for deploying the expandable devices. The expandable devices are capable of increasing in height and width when expanded from a closed configuration to an open configuration to occupy a larger volume and to present a larger surface area. The expandable devices are lockable and are capable of rigidly occupying a space after expansion. In some embodiments, the expandable devices are useful as interbody devices for spinal fusions.
Claims13
An expandable device, comprising:
- (a) a pair of superior arms arranged in parallel with an opposing a pair of inferior arms, each arm comprising an anterior end and a posterior end, and each of the opposing pairs of arms comprising opposing slots in their anterior and posterior ends;
- and
- (b) an expansion system comprising bolts, crossbars, and pins, the bolts arranged in parallel as pairs, the bolts in each pair connected by crossbars, each pair of bolts positioned, respectively, in the opposing anterior and posterior slots of the opposing inferior and superior arms, each bolt secured within a slot by a pin fixed to each arm;
- wherein the expansion system of bolts, crossbars and pins moves the arms between a closed configuration and an open configuration upon rotation of the bolts within the slots, and wherein movement of the arms to the open configuration includes separating the arms to simultaneously expand the device in each of a height dimension and a width dimension.
An expandable device comprising:
- (a) a pair of superior arms arranged in parallel with and opposing a pair of inferior arms, each arm comprising an anterior end and a posterior end, and each of the opposing pairs of arms comprising opposing slots in their anterior and posterior ends, and each of at least two of the arms comprising either a socket or a connector at one of its ends;
- and
- (b) a system comprising bolls arranged in parallel as pairs connected by crossbars, and pins that connect a pair of connected bolts, respectively, into the opposing anterior slots and the opposing posterior slots of the arms, each bolt comprising pin guides cut into an outer surface of the bolt at each of top and bottom ends of the bolt, each pin guide comprising a curved slot having an open position near an end of the bolt and a closed position between the top and bottom ends of the bolt, wherein rotating a bolt slides a pin engaged within a pin guide between the closed position and the open position, and each bolt comprising a cam on an outer surface opposite the crossbar and each slot comprising a cam face, wherein rotation of the bolts within the slots slides each bolt cam along the cam face of its slot;
- wherein the system of bolls, crossbars and pins moves the arms between a closed configuration and an open configuration upon rotation of the bolts within the slots;
- wherein movement of the arms to the open configuration includes separating the arms to simultaneously expand the device in each of a height dimension and a width dimension;
- and
- wherein the device has a polyhedron-like shape with four rectangular sides and a parallelogram-like top and bottom when in the closed configuration and a polyhedron-like shape with four rectangular sides and a rectangular top and bottom when in the open configuration.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.