Expandable Spinal Spacer for Minimally Invasive Neutral Support
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current spinal spacers for surgical procedures are either too large for minimally invasive procedures or lack sufficient support, risking collapse, and do not account for non-straight implantation paths, failing to provide symmetrical and neutral support to avoid neurological damage.
Innovation Solution
A spacer with adjustable upper and lower supports that can be expanded laterally and vertically independently via a single drive mechanism, allowing for customizable expansion patterns to ensure stable support without collapse, suitable for non-straight implantation paths.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If the spacer is made compact for minimally invasive insertion, then the invasiveness is reduced, but the support capability deteriorates and collapse risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The spacer employs a nested structure where the upper and lower supports can be positioned close together during insertion, allowing the device to pass through a small incision. After insertion, the supports are drifted apart laterally to expand the bearing surfaces and provide sufficient support area to prevent collapse, thus resolving the contradiction between compact insertion and adequate support capability
Solution Approach 2:
The spacer transitions from a static compact form during insertion to a dynamic expanded form after implantation. The lateral drifting mechanism allows the supports to move relative to each other, expanding the bearing surfaces dynamically to achieve both minimally invasive insertion and adequate post-implantation support
2Reliability
If the spacer provides symmetrical support for neutral alignment, then neurological safety is improved, but the adaptability to non-straight implantation paths deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The spacer incorporates an asymmetric design where the upper and lower supports can be drifted laterally in different directions and by different amounts. This asymmetric lateral drifting capability allows the spacer to adapt to non-straight implantation paths while the bearing surfaces are configured to provide symmetrical support when properly positioned, ensuring both adaptability and neurological safety
3Reliability
If the bearing surfaces are expanded laterally to increase support area, then the collapse risk is reduced, but the vertical height increases affecting minimally invasive insertion
Solution Approach 1:
The spacer divides the support structure into separate upper and lower supports with bearing surfaces that can be positioned independently. The bearing surfaces are segmented into first and second sub-surfaces that can be laterally drifted apart to increase the lateral extent of support area without requiring an increase in vertical height, allowing adequate support while maintaining compact vertical dimensions for minimally invasive insertion
Data Source
Figure 1a~1d
Figure 2a~2b
Figure 3a~3c
AI summary
The invention relates to a place holder (10) for spinal surgery which comprises an upper and lower support (20, 22) having an upper and lower support face (21, 23), which each have a first and a second partial area contacting one another at an edge in a closed state, and an expansion device (30), by means of which the lateral extent of the support faces and their vertical distance from one another are variable and the place holder is adjustable between a closed state and an expanded state. The first and the second partial area of the upper and lower support face have mutually engaging structures (26) at the edge where they contact one another in the closed state. The expansion device is designed such that the modification to the lateral extent and to the vertical distance is implemented by means of a single drive in two mutually independent and freely definable movement profiles coded in the place holder.