Prosthetic intervertebral discs having stiff end plates and a compressible polymeric core
AssigneeSpinal Kinetics, Inc.
InventorsDaniel Kim, Kunwoo Lee, Curtis Frank, Sung Ha
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Abstract
A prosthetic intervertebral disc and methods for using the same are provided. The subject prosthetic discs are characterized by including top and bottom endplates separated by a fibrous compressible element that includes an annular region and a nuclear region. The two plates are held together at least one fiber wound around at least one region of the top endplate and at least one region of the bottom endplate. The subject discs may be employed with separate vertebral body fixation elements, or they may include integrated vertebral body fixation elements. Also provided are kits and systems that include the subject prosthetic discs.
Claims12
A prosthetic intervertebral disc having a peripheral annular region and a nuclear region, the disc comprising:
- i.) top end and bottom end plates separated by an element,
- each plate comprising a physiologically acceptable material selected from the group consisting of titanium, titanium alloys, stainless steel, cobalt/chromium, ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE), polyetheretherketone (PEEK), ceramics, and graphite, and
- ii.) the element separating the top and bottom end plates being selected from the group consisting of:
- a.) a fibrous compressible element having a fibrous component limited to the disc annular region,
- b.) a fibrous compressible element having a fibrous component limited to the disc annular region and a separate polymeric component in the disc nuclear region, and
- c.) a polymeric component in both the disc annular region and in the disc nuclear region, and
- wherein the top end and bottom end plates are held together by at least one fiber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.