Coiled Spinal Implant with Omni-Directional Teeth
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional spinal repair devices require open installation procedures, leading to increased patient recovery times and tissue disruption, as they need larger incisions for stability and specific orientation to prevent expulsion, which limits minimally invasive options.
Innovation Solution
A minimally invasive spinal implant system featuring a coiled elongate strip with omni-directional teeth for increased bone contact and stability, deployable through a small cannula, allowing for smaller incisions and adjustable height, made from materials like PEEK, titanium, or shape memory alloys for anatomical conformity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional spinal devices are made larger to maximize bone contact area for stability, then stability and bone contact area are improved, but the incision size required for implantation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The implant strip is designed to be nested within itself when coiled, with the strip forming a spiral configuration where inner portions are contained within outer portions. This nesting allows the device to achieve a compact deployed shape that maximizes bone contact area while minimizing the frontal area that must pass through the incision site.
Solution Approach 2:
The implant transitions from a linear one-dimensional strip to a three-dimensional coiled spiral structure. This dimensional transformation allows the device to pack greater bone contact surface area into a smaller frontal profile, enabling the strip to engage vertebral bodies extensively while passing through a minimally sized incision.
2Reliability
If conventional devices use specific orientation geometry to prevent expulsion, then expulsion prevention is improved, but the implantation procedure becomes more complex and less versatile
Solution Approach 1:
The strip features asymmetric tooth profiles with teeth of varying heights and orientations distributed along its length. This asymmetric geometry provides multi-directional engagement with the vertebral bodies, preventing expulsion from any orientation while allowing the strip to be implanted without requiring precise orientation alignment.
Solution Approach 2:
The coiled strip design with omni-directional tooth profiles serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides mechanical interlocking to prevent expulsion, maintains disc space height, promotes fusion through bone contact, and allows flexible implantation angles. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate orientation-specific features.
3Manufacturing precision
If open installation procedures are used to properly position conventional devices, then device positioning accuracy is improved, but patient recovery time and tissue disruption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The implant strip is designed with dynamic deployment characteristics, transitioning from a compressed delivery configuration to an expanded coiled configuration upon implantation. This dynamic transformation allows the device to self-position and self-adjust within the disc space, achieving accurate positioning through its inherent mechanical properties rather than requiring extensive open surgical exposure.
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 system provides greater bone contact area and stability with smaller frontal area implants, reducing tissue disruption and recovery time, while allowing for precise anatomical fit and reduced expulsion risk through omni-directional tooth profiles and adjustable deployment.
Implementation Method 1
alternate embodiments of the present implant and alternate systems are manufactured from shape memory alloys and shape memory polymers allowing the device to conform more closely to the anatomical shape of the body
Implementation Method 2
alternate embodiments of the present implant and alternate systems are manufactured from shape memory alloys and shape memory polymers allowing the device to conform more closely to the anatomical shape of the body
Data Source
AI summary
An in-situ formed spinal implant is provided, including an elongate strip having a proximal end and an opposite distal end, the strip having a plurality of spaced teeth disposed along edges of the strip. The strip has a generally arcuate or concave cross-section and is configured for being coiled into a spiral from the proximate end to the distal end for placement between adjacent spinal vertebrae, such that upon formation of the coiled shape, the teeth on a first edge engage one of the vertebrae, and teeth of an opposite, second edge engage the other of the vertebrae.