Expandable intervertebral interbody implants
AssigneeGlobus Medical, Inc.
InventorsMunish Gupta, Colm McLaughlin, Matthew Andraka
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Expandable fusion devices, systems, instruments, and methods thereof. The expandable fusion implant may include an upper endplate and a lower endplate configured to engage adjacent vertebrae, an expansion gear configured to adjust a height of the upper endplate, a locking collar configured to attach to an inserter instrument at multiple orientations for a desired surgical approach, and an actuation ram configured to lock, unlock, or change insertion orientation of the locking collar. The expandable fusion device is attachable to the inserter instrument to reorient the locking collar and expand the upper endplate.
Claims20
An expandable implant comprising:
- an upper endplate and a lower endplate configured to engage adjacent vertebrae;
- an expansion gear configured to adjust a height of the upper endplate, the expansion gear is coupled to the lower endplate and engaged with the upper endplate;
- a locking collar positioned between the expansion gear and the lower endplate and configured to attach to an inserter instrument at multiple orientations for a desired surgical approach;
- a spring received in a recess in the locking collar;
- and
- an actuation ram housed in the locking collar configured to lock, unlock, or change insertion orientation of the locking collar.
An implantable system comprising:
- an expandable implant comprising an upper endplate configured to engage a superior vertebra, a lower endplate configured to engage an inferior vertebra, an expansion gear configured to adjust a height of the upper endplate, a locking collar configured to rotate about the lower endplate for a desired surgical approach, a spring for biasing the locking collar toward or away from the lower endplate and the expansion gear, and an actuation ram housed in the locking collar configured to lock, unlock, or change insertion orientation of the locking collar;
- and
- an inserter instrument having an attachment assembly configured to engage the locking collar and an expansion assembly configured to expand the implant, wherein the inserter instrument is attachable to the locking collar in a first position for fully locking the implant, a second position permitting the locking collar to freely spin for the desired surgical approach, and a third position allowing for expansion of the upper endplate.
A method of installing an expandable implant comprising:
- providing an expandable implant having an upper endplate, a lower endplate, an expansion gear configured to adjust a height of the upper endplate, a locking collar configured to rotate about the lower endplate for a desired surgical approach, a spring for biasing the locking collar toward or away from the lower endplate and the expansion gear, and an actuation ram housed in the locking collar configured to lock, unlock, or change insertion orientation of the locking collar;
- attaching an inserter instrument to the expandable implant;
- controlling the position and orientation of the locking collar through the inserter instrument to determine a desired trajectory;
- inserting the expandable implant in a collapsed position between adjacent vertebrae along the desired trajectory;
- and
- expanding the expandable implant through the inserter instrument.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.