Prostheses for spine discs having fusion capability
AssigneeUniversity of South Florida
InventorsWesley Johnson, Thomas Freeman
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Abstract
The present invention provides both a device and a method. The device is a human made replacement for the soft discs in the spine. A fabric pouch encloses a central hydraulic element made up of small soft beads. Two pouches with beads are implanted into a prepared disc space to function as an intervertebral disc. The method is conversion of the device into a fusion element.
Claims21
An intervertebral disc prothesis system for the replacement of a spinal disc comprising a pair of prosthetic subunits wherein each subunit is the substantial mirror image of the other subunit, said subunit adapted to be positioned laterally adjacent to the other subunit within the disc space, wherein the subunit comprises one or more dehydrateable hydrogel cores encompassed within a fabric constraining envelope.
A prosthesis for the replacement of spinal discs comprising one or more cores encompassed within a fabric constraining envelope, wherein the one or more cores comprise a dehydrateable hydraulic element.
A method for the conversion of a spine disc prothesis device to a fusion device comprising the steps of:
- accessing the disc space of a patient wherein the disc space contains a disc prosthesis comprising a hydraulic core element contained within a fabric envelope;
- injecting bone forming materials into the core region of the spine disc prosthesis;
- and
- maintaining the joint in a stabilized position for a sufficient period of time to allow for curing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.