Expandable Spinal Barrel with Angulated Plates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medical devices for spinal stabilization and fusion fail to effectively provide structural stability and supplemental fusion for conditions like degenerative disc disease, spondylolisthesis, trauma, and tumors, as they do not adequately address the need for distraction and immobilization of adjacent vertebrae.
Innovation Solution
An implantable device featuring an expandable barrel with PEEK endplates and spiked plates that angulate to conform to spinal anatomy, providing distraction and immobilization by engaging spinous processes, while allowing for graft packing and withstanding compressive, torsional, and shear loads.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional fusion devices are used to stabilize the spine, then structural support is provided, but the devices fail to effectively distract and immobilize adjacent vertebrae
Solution Approach 1:
The device employs an expandable barrel structure that can transition from a collapsed insertion state to an expanded distraction state. The barrel includes actuators with split ramps that convert rotational motion of a central screw into linear expansion motion, enabling dynamic adjustment of the distance between endplates to achieve effective distraction of adjacent vertebrae
Solution Approach 2:
The device integrates multiple functional components within a compact structure: the expandable barrel contains actuators with split ramps, a central screw, and endplates with shaped grooves. The plates with projections are nested within the barrel structure, allowing the entire mechanism to be inserted in a collapsed state and then expanded to provide both distraction and immobilization functions
2Adaptability or versatility
If the device is designed to expand from collapsed to expanded form, then distraction capability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The expansion mechanism is self-contained within the barrel structure. The actuators with split ramps and central screw form an integrated system that converts simple rotational input into controlled linear expansion. The endplates with shaped grooves and plates with projections work together automatically as the barrel expands, reducing the need for additional control mechanisms
Solution Approach 2:
The device is divided into functional segments: the expandable barrel with actuators, the endplates with shaped grooves, and the plates with projections. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function while contributing to the overall distraction capability, making the complex mechanism more manageable and implantable
3Adaptability or versatility
If plates are designed to angulate about an axis, then adaptability to spinal anatomy is improved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The plates are designed with bushings that enable them to angulate about an axis of the barrel, providing dynamic adaptability to the patient's spinal anatomy. The bushings allow the plates to rotate to different angles within a range of motion, and set screws can lock the plates at any desired position, eliminating the need for precise pre-manufactured angular configurations
Data Source
AI summary
An implantable device includes a barrel. The barrel has a first portion and a second portion. The implantable device includes a first plate having multiple projections extending from one side of the first plate, where the first plate is configured to movably couple to the first portion of the barrel. The implantable device includes a second plate having multiple projections extending from one side of the second plate, where the second plate is configured to movably couple to the second portion of the barrel. The barrel is configured to transition from a collapsed form having a first height to an expanded form having a second height, where the second height is greater than the first height.