Spinal Three-Joint Complex Implant System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current clinical data indicates that degeneration of either the discs or facet joints in the spinal three-joint complex leads to instability, pain, and neurological dysfunction, with no available implants to replace the entire complex.
Innovation Solution
Development of a facet replacement device with adaptable plates that can couple to vertebrae, allowing controlled movement and stabilization, optionally integrating with a disc replacement device to restore spinal function.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If implants are used to replace diseased discs or facet joints separately, then pain relief and function restoration are achieved for individual components, but the entire spinal three-joint complex cannot be replaced and instability persists
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines separate disc replacement and facet joint replacement into a single integrated implant system. The facet joint implant includes superior and inferior members that couple to vertebrae and control movement, while disc replacement devices are disposed between vertebrae and connected to the facet joint members, creating a unified three-joint complex replacement that addresses both components simultaneously
Solution Approach 2:
The facet joint replacement device serves multiple functions: it replaces the facet joint articulation surfaces, controls movement between vertebrae, and provides connection points for disc replacement devices. This multi-functional design allows a single implant system to address the entire three-joint complex rather than requiring separate procedures for disc and facet replacement
2Ease of operation
If facet replacement device allows controlled movement to maintain spinal dynamics, then natural spinal function is preserved, but excessive movement such as extension, rotation, and lateral bending must be prevented to avoid instability
Solution Approach 1:
The facet replacement device incorporates bearing surfaces on the superior and inferior members that allow controlled articulation and movement between vertebrae. The device is designed to permit flexion while limiting or preventing extension, axial rotation, and lateral bending through the geometric configuration of the bearing surfaces and fin structures, providing dynamic stabilization that adapts to physiological motion while preventing pathological movement
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and devices are provided for replacing damaged, injured, diseased, or otherwise unhealthy elements of the spinal three-joint complex, such as the facet joints and discs. In one exemplary embodiment, a joint replacement system includes a facet replacement component that is adapted to replace and/or augment the facet joints, and a disc replacement component that is adapted to replace a spinal disc. The facet replacement component and the disc replacement component can couple to one another to allow and/or control flexion, extension, and/or lateral bending of the spine, preferably while substantially restricting posterior-anterior shear and axial rotation of the spine.