Bellows Spinal Implant Shell With Gyroid Lattice for X-Ray Imaging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current spinal interbody fusion devices face challenges in mimicking the biomechanical properties of the spine, achieving radiolucency for imaging, and promoting osteointegration, as traditional materials like titanium provide strength but lack flexibility and radiolucency, while alternatives like PEEK offer radiolucency but fail to integrate with bone.
Innovation Solution
A bellows-shaped spinal implant made of titanium with an inwardly angled shell and porous contact regions featuring gyroid lattice structures, designed to enhance osteointegration and radiographic imaging by providing the necessary stiffness and flexibility, while maintaining strength and osteointegration capabilities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If titanium is used for spinal implant, then strength and osteointegration are improved, but radiolucency and flexibility deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The implant incorporates porous contact regions with gyroid lattice structures that allow radiographic imaging while maintaining structural integrity and promoting bone ingrowth. The porous nature enables X-rays to pass through, achieving radiolucency without sacrificing the strength and osteointegration properties of titanium.
Solution Approach 2:
The implant combines solid titanium structures with porous gyroid lattice regions, creating a composite structure that integrates the strength and osteointegration of solid titanium with the radiolucency of porous structures. This composite approach allows different regions to fulfill different functional requirements.
2Strength
If solid structure is used for implant, then strength is improved, but flexibility and biomechanical mimicry deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The porous gyroid lattice structures provide flexibility and resilience by allowing controlled deformation while maintaining overall structural strength. The interconnected pores enable the implant to mimic the biomechanical properties of natural spine structures, providing both support and flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The implant is divided into solid regions for strength and porous regions for flexibility, with the bellows-shaped structure segmented into expandable sections. This segmentation allows different parts to fulfill different mechanical requirements, combining strength and flexibility in a single implant.
3Ease of manufacture
If uniform structure is used, then manufacturing is simplified, but osteointegration and contact with vertebral bodies deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The implant features uniform gyroid lattice structures in the contact regions that provide consistent porosity and surface area for osteointegration. This localized uniformity in the contact regions, combined with the overall bellows shape, achieves both manufacturing simplicity and enhanced bone integration at critical interfaces.
Data Source
AI summary
A bellows shaped spinal implant, comprising an upper plate, a lower plate and a bellows shaped shell extending between and joining the upper and lower plates. The bellows shaped shell is formed of titanium or an alloy comprising titanium and includes a wall extending therearound that defines a hollow interior. The wall has a thickness in the range of 0.5 mm to 1.0 mm to provide for radiographic imaging through the wall. The wall is angled or curved inwardly or outwardly between the upper and lower plates to provide stiffness mimicking the stiffness properties of a similarly sized polyetheretherketone (PEEK) implant. The upper and lower plates each comprise porous contact regions including a three-dimensional gyroid lattice structure defined by a plurality of struts and pores in communication with the hollow interior. The outer surfaces of at least a portion of the struts may comprise a laser ablated textured surface.