Expandable intervertebral cage implant
OwnerRobert Woodruffinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An expandable intervertebral cage, having: a top plate with rotatable leaves thereon; a bottom plate with rotatable leaves thereon; front and rear wedges; and a deployment mechanism that moves the front or rear wedges to rotate the leaves on the top and bottom plates into a deployed position that increases the width of the intervertebral cage. The deployment mechanism also moves the wedges to push the top and bottom plates farther apart thereby increasing the height of the intervertebral cage, or moves one of the wedges while keeping the other wedge stationary to vary a lordosis angle for the intervertebral cage.
Claims7
A method of deploying an intervertebral cage in an intervertebral space, comprising:
- inserting an expandable intervertebral cage into an intervertebral space, wherein the intervertebral cage comprises:
- a top plate;
- a pair of rotatable leaves on opposite sides of the top plate;
- a bottom plate;
- a pair of rotatable leaves on opposite sides of the bottom plate;
- and then
- engaging a deployment mechanism to move either or both of the front or rear wedges to rotate the leaves on the top and bottom plates into a deployed position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.