Spinal disc annulus repair device
AssigneeAnulex Technologies, Inc.
InventorJoseph Cauthen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A stent, or device for repair and reconstruction of the spinal disc wall, or annulus fibrosus, after surgical incision or pathologic rupture, which is inserted through an aperture into the subannular space. The stent has radial extensions which are caused or allowed to expand into an expanded configuration to bridge the aperture. The stent thereby occludes the defective region from the inside of the vertebral disc and prevents the migration of nucleus pulposus therethrough, while also providing a scaffold for tissue growth.
Claims21
1-44. (canceled)
A method of positioning an implant within an implantation site, said implantation site comprising a first region having a tight and/or changing curvature bordered by a second region or regions having minimal or constant curvature, said method comprising:
- placing a relatively flexible region of said implant within said first region;
- placing a relatively stiff or rigid region of said implant within said second region;
- wherein said implantation site is the interior of an intervertebral disc and said implant comprises a barrier for preventing the migration of materials from within the disc toward the periphery of the disc;
- affixing the barrier to tissue in or surrounding the intervertebral disc;
- and deploying the barrier between the nucleus pulposus and the annulus fibrosis of the intervertebral disc.
A method of positioning an implant within an implantation site, said implantation site comprising a first region having a tight and/or changing curvature bordered by a second region or regions having minimal or constant curvature, said method comprising:
- placing a relatively flexible region of said implant within said first region;
- placing a relatively stiff or rigid region of said implant within said second region;
- wherein said implantation site is the interior of an intervertebral disc and said implant comprises a barrier for preventing the migration of materials from within the disc toward the periphery of the disc;
- and inserting an insertion device into the intervertebral disc at a point located a distance away from a defect in the annular fibrosis of the intervertebral disc and advancing the barrier across the defect.
A method of positioning an implant within an implantation site, said implantation site comprising a first region having a tight and/or changing curvature bordered by a second region or regions having minimal or constant curvature, said method comprising:
- placing a relatively flexible region of said implant within said first region;
- placing a relatively stiff or rigid region of said implant within said second region;
- wherein said implantation site is the interior of an intervertebral disc and said implant comprises a barrier for preventing the migration of materials from within the disc toward the periphery of the disc;
- and deploying the barrier between the nucleus pulposus and the annulus fibrosis of the intervertebral disc.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.