Variable Lordosis Expandable Spacer for Alignment and Compact Insertion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional intervertebral fusion devices face challenges in fitting properly with adjacent vertebral bodies due to variations in lordosis curvature, often requiring excessive bone removal and increased procedure time, and struggle with maintaining normal disc spacing during installation.
Innovation Solution
An expandable fusion device with endplates and ramps that can transition between collapsed and expanded configurations, allowing for minimal insertion size and adaptive fit to vertebral bodies, featuring adjustable pivot points and mating features for symmetrical or asymmetrical expansion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of stationary object
If traditional fusion devices are used to maintain normal disc spacing, then the device must be dimensioned larger than the initial distraction height, but this makes it difficult to install the fusion device in the distracted intervertebral space
Solution Approach 1:
The fusion device incorporates an expandable structure that transitions from a compressed insertion configuration to an expanded maintained configuration. The device includes expandable elements such as balloons or mechanical expansion mechanisms that allow the device to be inserted in a compact form and then expanded within the intervertebral space to achieve and maintain the desired disc spacing.
Solution Approach 2:
The fusion device is designed with nested components where the expandable elements are contained within the device housing during insertion. The device structure allows inner components to be nested within outer components, enabling the device to be inserted in a compact form factor and then deployed to its full functional size within the intervertebral space.
2Manufacturing precision
If traditional fusion devices are used to accommodate lordosis curvature variations, then proper alignment with adjacent vertebral bodies cannot be achieved, but removing bone to ensure proper fit increases procedure and healing time
Solution Approach 1:
The fusion device incorporates adjustable geometric parameters including variable lordosis angles and curvature profiles. The device can be selected or adjusted to match the specific spinal curvature requirements of each patient, eliminating the need for bone removal to achieve proper alignment. The device geometry is designed to conform to natural spinal variations.
Solution Approach 2:
The fusion device features asymmetric design elements that accommodate the natural asymmetric curvature of the spine. The device includes variable angle surfaces and non-uniform geometric profiles that can be configured to match the specific lordosis curvature of the patient's spine, allowing proper alignment without requiring additional bone removal procedures.
3Reliability
If conventional fusion devices are installed in distracted vertebral bodies, then the devices do not properly align with adjacent vertebral bodies due to lordosis curvature, but adjusting the device to fit individual curvatures requires excessive bone removal
Solution Approach 1:
The fusion device incorporates adjustable and adaptable features that allow it to be configured to match the specific anatomical requirements of each patient's spine. The device can be adjusted intraoperatively to achieve proper alignment with the natural lordosis curvature, eliminating the need for complex bone removal procedures while ensuring reliable vertebral alignment.
Data Source
AI summary
An expandable fusion device may include a first endplate and a second endplate. The expandable fusion device may also include first and second ramps configured to mate with both the first and second endplates. The first ramp may include a mating feature having a first angle relative to a vertical axis, and the second ramp may include a mating feature having a second angle relative to the vertical axis such that the first angle is different from the second angle. In particular, the first and second ramps may be configured to provide for symmetrical expansion of the first and second endplates.