Devices for treating the spine
AssigneeBenvenue Medical, Inc.
InventorsLaurent Schaller, Timothy McGrath, Ryan Connolly, David Needleman, Steven Golden, John Ashley, James Lee, Jeffrey Emery, J. Brook Burley
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Abstract
Method and apparatus are disclosed for distracting tissue and particularly spinal tissue. The device and method may include insertion of at least one elongated member and an augmenting member to form a structure between the tissues to be distraction, such that a dimensional aspect of the structure is augmented upon movement of the augmenting structure.
Claims15
A tissue distraction device comprising:
- first and second elongated members insertable between adjacent vertebrae of a spine having a general longitudinal axis and adapted to define a structure in situ having a dimensional aspect in a direction extending between the vertebrae, wherein each of the first and second elongated members includes a wire lumen;
- a flexible augmenting elongated member at least partially insertable between and in contact with said first and second elongated members to spread the first and second elongated members apart to increase the dimensional aspect of at least a portion of the structure in situ, wherein said augmenting, first and second elongated members are sufficiently flexible to change between a generally linear configuration and a generally less linear configuration and the device in situ is substantially rigid in a direction generally along the longitudinal axis of the spine and flexible in a direction different from the longitudinal axis of the spine;
- and
- a pull wire connected to at least one of said first and second elongated members and passing through both of the wire lumens, wherein the pull wire is adapted to exert a force on said at least one of said first and second elongated members to change between the generally linear configuration and the generally less linear configuration.
A method of assembling a structure in vivo between two body tissue layers comprising a flexible first elongated member, a flexible second elongated member, and a flexible augmenting elongated member, the method comprising:
- delivering the first and second elongated members between two body tissue layers in a generally linear configuration to define at least a portion of a structure having a dimensional aspect in a direction extending generally from one of said body tissue layers to the other body tissue layer;
- changing the configuration of said first and second elongated members to a generally less linear configuration by flexing at least a portion of said first and second elongated members;
- and, after changing the configuration of said first and second elongated members to a generally less linear configuration,
- maintaining said first and second elongated members in said generally less linear configuration while inserting at least a portion of said augmenting elongated member between and in contact with said first and second elongated members to spread the first and second elongated members apart to increase the dimensional aspect of at least a portion of the structure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.