Accordion-Like Interbody Fusion Cage Cable Expansion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current spinal fusion procedures require a minimum 18 mm diameter access portal, leading to large incisions and muscle trauma, while existing devices fail to provide adequate minimally invasive intervertebral distraction and support for disc height restoration.
Innovation Solution
An interbody fusion device with an accordion-like structure that collapses for insertion and expands via a cable tensioning mechanism to restore disc height and provide columnar support, allowing for smaller incisions and reduced muscle trauma.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If a minimum 18 mm diameter access portal is used for spinal fusion procedures, then adequate interbody fusion device delivery is achieved, but incision size and muscle trauma increase
Solution Approach 1:
The interbody fusion device incorporates an expandable structure that transitions from a compressed low-profile state during insertion to an expanded state after implantation. This dynamic transformation allows the device to be delivered through a smaller access portal than its final implanted dimensions, thereby reducing incision size and muscle trauma while maintaining adequate delivery capability
Solution Approach 2:
The device design allows the expandable cage structure to be nested within a delivery system in a compressed configuration. The cage is collapsed or compressed within the delivery device, enabling it to pass through a smaller access portal, and then expanded to its functional size after implantation, effectively nesting the final device within a smaller delivery envelope
2Length of stationary object
If existing fusion devices are used, then disc height restoration is achieved, but adequate anterior column support and minimally invasive capability are not simultaneously provided
Solution Approach 1:
The expandable cage structure dynamically transitions from a compressed delivery state to an expanded functional state, enabling the device to achieve adequate disc height restoration and anterior column support only after implantation. This dynamic expansion allows minimally invasive insertion through smaller portals while maintaining the necessary structural support capabilities
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The accordion-like interbody fusion device effectively reduces incision size, maintains proper disc height restoration, and provides adequate anterior column support through a minimally invasive procedure, addressing the limitations of existing spinal fusion techniques.
Implementation Method 1
the intermediate portion comprising a plurality of pleats arranged substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis... the tube has a radially collapsed configuration when the first cable is relaxed and a radially expanded configuration when the first cable is tensioned
Data Source
AI summary
An interbody fusion device having an accordion-like structure, wherein the device in inserted into the disc space in its collapsed configuration and then expanded into its expanded configuration by compressing the accordion-like portion of the device. In some embodiments, a pre-formed tube with an accordion-like structure over a portion of its length is inserted in a relaxed (collapsed) configuration, giving the tube a minimum possible diameter. This tube has a cable running through it that is fixed to a distal end portion of the tube and extends past the proximal end portion of the tube to the outside of the patient. Once the tube is positioned on the rim of the endplate, the proximal end of the cable is pulled, thereby tensioning the cable and causing the accordion portion of the tube to become shorter in length but larger in diameter.