Expandable Intervertebral Fusion Endplates for Easier Insertion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing intervertebral devices face challenges in ease of assembly, installation, and disassembly, with potential compromises on long-term reliability and patient safety due to material wear, and often lack expandable features for optimal surface expansion to adjacent vertebrae.
Innovation Solution
An intervertebral fusion device comprising a superior and inferior component with expandable parts coupled by a core component that progressively pushes these parts apart upon insertion, allowing for modular assembly and improved surface expansion for better support and integration with vertebrae.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If the intervertebral device is made expandable to increase surface area for vertebral contact, then the surface area and support capability are improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The intervertebral device is divided into multiple segments or struts that can be independently positioned and expanded. Each strut contains internal structures that allow for controlled expansion, enabling the device to increase its surface area through modular segmentation rather than requiring a monolithic complex structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The device incorporates dynamic expansion capabilities where the struts can transition between compressed and expanded states. This dynamic property allows the device to adapt its surface area to match the specific intervertebral space requirements, providing versatility without permanently increasing structural complexity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the intervertebral device is designed with adjustable height and angle features, then the adaptability to different anatomies is improved, but the ease of assembly and installation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The device is supplied pre-configured with adjustable features and locking mechanisms already in place. The height and angle adjustments can be made through simple manual operations or pre-programmed settings, eliminating the need for complex assembly procedures while maintaining full adaptability to different anatomical requirements.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the intervertebral device uses complex mechanisms for expansion and adjustment, then the functional capability is improved, but the long-term reliability deteriorates due to material wear
Solution Approach 1:
The expansion and adjustment mechanisms are designed to be self-contained and self-regulating. The struts incorporate internal locking features and load-distributing structures that automatically engage under physiological loads, eliminating the need for external actuation mechanisms or complex control systems that would be prone to wear and failure.
4Ease of operation
If the intervertebral device is made smaller for easier introduction into the intervertebral space, then the ease of installation is improved, but the surface area for bone integration deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The device employs a nested configuration where the expandable struts are contained within a compact delivery system. In the compressed state, the device fits through standard surgical access paths, and upon deployment, the struts expand outward to provide sufficient surface area for bone integration, effectively nesting a large final structure within a small delivery form.
Data Source
AI summary
An intervertebral fusion device 10 is disclosed. The intervertebral fusion device 10 comprises at least one endplate 40, 70 and a core component 20. The at least one endplate 40, 70 is configured to be received in an intervertebral space between first and second vertebrae. Each at least one endplate 40, 70 comprises first and second endplate parts which are coupled to each other to allow the first and second endplate parts to move apart to thereby increase a perimeter of the endplate. The core component 20 is configured to inter-engage with each at least one endplate 40, 70. The core component 20 is unitary. As the core component 20 is progressively brought into inter-engagement with the at least one endplate 40, 70, the core component bears against the first and second endplate parts to push the first and second endplate parts progressively apart.