1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a spinal implant for placement between two opposing vertebral bodies during a fusion procedure.
2. Description of the Related Technology
A wide variety of interbody devices have been used or proposed for use in vertebral fusion procedures. These are commonly referred to as “cages” and may comprise rings, dowels, fenestrated and/or threaded boxes or cylinders that are placed between the vertebra being fused. Different styles are made from a variety of different materials including titanium, stainless steel, or carbon fiber. Dowels and rings are sometimes constructed of allograft bone. In most cases, the cage is installed into a distracted disk space following disk removal, and cancellous bone chips are implanted in and around the cage between the vertebral bodies. If the procedure is successful, bone tissue permeates the disk space through and around the cage, and a solid bony fusion is formed which rigidly couples the two vertebra.
In spite of a fair number of successes, surgical experience with these cages has at times been fraught with some disasters with the cages migrating within the disk space or with end plate erosions and collapse of the height of the disk space. Studies have also shown widely varying successful fusion rates with this technique.
These problems have led to the augmentation of these devices with pedicle screw fixation with or without posterolateral bone grafting. Although this improves fusion rates, pedicle screw fixation in conjunction with an interbody device can lead to further soft tissue dissection and increased intraoperative bleeding and increase in hospital stay. Furthermore, there is an increase in the risk for infection and for potential nerve injury with pedicle screws breaking through the pedicle and injuring the nerve roots or thecal sac. Furthermore, although the improved clinical outcomes associated with pedicle screw augmentation are significant, combining pedicle screw implantation with cage fusion procedures has also been found to significantly increase the average total cost of the surgery over stand-alone cage fusions.
For these reasons, it would be beneficial for a cage design to be developed which has a high fusion rate without pedicle screw stabilization. However, and although a large number of interbody fusion devices have been developed, none have thus far been demonstrated to eliminate the need for additional pedicle screw fixation to achieve a high fusion success rate.
In one embodiment, the invention comprises a spinal implant configured for placement between vertebral bodies comprising a housing and one or more spikes coupled to the housing and configured to couple the housing to the vertebral bodies, wherein at least one of the spikes comprises at least one laterally extending projection for engaging the bone. In some embodiments, the laterally extending projection forms a barb.
In another embodiment, the invention comprise a spinal implant, comprising: a housing defining at least first and second pairs of holes, wherein the first pair of holes are formed on first and second surfaces of the housing, respectively, the second surface opposing to the first surface, and wherein the second pair of holes are formed on the first and second surfaces, respectively. The implant also comprises at least first and second pairs of spikes, the first pair of spikes opposing to each other and the second pair of spikes opposing to each other, each spike having a base portion and a top portion, wherein each spike is configured to reside within the housing in a retracted mode and the top portions of each spike are configured to protrude from the housing via the first and second pairs of holes, respectively, in an extended mode, and wherein each top portion is configured to be inserted into a vertebral body. Furthermore, at least one driver is provided comprising at least two wedge structures mounted to an extended shaft and configured such that a first one of the wedge structures contacts the base portions of the first pair of spikes, and a second one of the wedge structures contacts the base portions of the second pair of spikes so as to transfer each spike from the retracted mode into the extended mode. As with other embodiments, at least one of the spikes may comprise at least one projection on its top portion, and the projection may be barbed.
In another embodiment, a spinal implant comprises certain gear train driven spikes. In one embodiment, a gear train comprising at least a worm gear is coupled to the spike and is configured to transfer the spike from the retracted mode into the extended mode. In another embodiment, a gear train comprising at least a pinion gear is coupled to the spike and configured to transfer the spike from the retracted mode into the extended mode.
In another embodiment, a method of fixing an implant between vertebral bodies is provided. The method comprises inserting the implant between the vertebral bodies, extending spikes coupled to a body of the implant into the vertebral bodies, and using the spikes to pull the vertebral bodies toward the implant body.
The foregoing and other features of the invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims taken in conjunction with the following drawings, in which like reference numerals indicate identical or functionally similar elements.
1. Overall Implant Configuration
In the embodiment of
Throughout the application, the retracted mode represents a state of the interbody device 10 where the spikes 12 are located in the inside of the device 10 as exemplified in the right hand side of
A few devices with expanding spikes such as are illustrated in
Specifically, to help reduce or eliminate the need for supplemental pedical screw fixation, it is advantageous if the vertebral bodies are pulled together to clamp the cage between them as much as possible. No design capable of this function has heretofore been available. In addition, the spike extensions possible with conventional designs is very limited, which in turn limits the amount of stability the spikes can provide.
In some embodiments, the interbody device 10 can be manufactured in a mechanically compressible and expandable manner, in addition to having extendable spikes, allowing it to be placed through a small opening in its compressed state, and once inside the disk space the device 10 can expand in a horizontal direction and also vertically.
It will be appreciated that a wide variety of mechanical methods may be used to produce such an expandable device 10. For example, the expansion mechanism may be a sliding mechanism that can be engaged by using a screw driver to turn and expand the device 10 horizontally. Another set of screws may then be used to turn and increase the vertical height of the device 10 and allow the teeth, anchor, or bolt to clamp and fix the interbody device 10. Additional filling of the device 10 with bone or BMP sponges or DBP sponges, etc., can be done after the device 10 is engaged and expanded to the desired height.
The projections or spikes 12 of the interbody device 10 which extend into the vertebral bodies 14 and 15, can come in many forms. In one embodiment, these projections 12 can come out as fish hooks or anchors which can then penetrate into the end plate to provide stable fixation and compression of the interbody device 10. This will allow an osteo integration with minimal dissection, minimal risk to the nerve root, minimal risk to the thecal sac, minimal bleeding, minimal scar tissue and facilitate shorter hospital stay.
Although not necessary, it can be advantageous to provide a mechanism through which the teeth or other form of anchor is disengageable from the device 10 after installation. For example, expanding teeth that come out of the interbody device 10 can be disengaged from a sleeve that is present in the interbody device 10 so that if there is a need to retrieve the device 10 later, it can be done so through the same minimally invasive technique without having to destroy significantly the vertebral bodies 14 and 15 above and below the interbody device 10.
The interbody device 10 can be made of several materials that are already known in the art of spinal surgery. In one embodiment, the device 100 can utilize material, such as stainless steel, titanium, PGA, PLA, PLLA, tantalum, PMMA, bone, PEEK, or other materials well known and accepted, but not limited to the aforementioned. By having a radiolucent bioabsorbable material the advantages are significant, better ease in radiographic assessment of fusion and osteo integration, and less scatter with MRI. Moreover, there will be a minimal persistent foreign body present in the disk space that should minimize the risk of infection.
In one embodiment, the interbody device 10 provides not only a means for a minimal invasive surgery, expansion within the disk space, both horizontally and vertically, stability within the disk space, easy retrieval of the device 10 in the event of infection or improper placement, but most importantly it allows for platform technology to be utilized for the first time in the disk space without any additional fixation. These end plate projections that penetrate the upper and lower cartilaginous end plates are uniquely designed and encompasses any device or method whereby the interbody device 10 can be anchored and compressed within the disk space. The geometry of the device 10 may be somewhat trapezoidal or rectangular, but is not limited to these geometric shapes. Cylindrically shaped devices could also be anchored in such a fashion. Referring to drawings, different embodiments will be discussed below in more detail.
2. Spike Design
If this type of spike design is utilized, the bone tissue will tend to enclose and surround the projections, pulling the vertebral bodies toward the implant, and resisting relative motion between the implant and the vertebral bodies. Furthermore, the normal load on the spine will tend to implant the spikes deeper into the bone, which will not be completely relaxed upon reduction of loading because of the projections. Thus, the spike design leads to progressive enhancement of the attachment between the device 10 and the vertebral bodies 14, 15. This significantly improves fixation, inhibits device migration, and enhances the success of the fusion. As will be further described below, in some embodiments it is advantageous to spring bias the spikes toward the center of the implant. This can further produce a pulling/clamping effect between the vertebra and the implant that enhances stability.
The remaining Figures illustrate conventional conical tapered tip spikes, but it will be appreciated that spikes in accordance with the above description may advantageously be utilized with all of the different cage embodiments described below.
3. Sliding Wedge Drivers
The spikes 41-44 are captured in holes in the housing 40. The driver 45 has a tapered tip which engages the heads of the spikes. To install the spikes, the driver 45 is forced into the housing 40, and the tapered surface of the driver tip forces the spikes outward. The driver is preferably tapped into the housing with a hammer or mallet without the need for any rotating or threaded engagement with the housing. During surgery, it has been found that such non-rotating, non-threaded methods of engagement are often easier to perform than thread based, rotating engagement designs, and this is one advantage of the system llustrated in
Thus, referring to
4. Threaded Rotating Wedge Drivers
Although there are some disadvantages to a threaded rotating coupling between the housing and the driver, it will be appreciated that the embodiments of
The driver 31 is inserted into the housing 30 such that the rotation of the driver 31 forces the wedges to move to the right by rotating the driver 31.
In order to transfer the spikes 38 from the retracted mode to the extended mode, the driver 31 is turned, for example, clockwise such that each wedge 32 and 33 rotates, moves to the right in
It is one feature of the embodiments of
The embodiment of
Referring to FIGS. 6A-D, the retracted mode will be explained. As shown in these Figures, in the retracted mode, the spikes are located inside the housing. Each spike comprises a base portion and a top portion. In this embodiment, the spikes 67-70 are biased inward toward the center of the housing by a spring 72 that has a flexing central convexly bowed region that is pressed against the inside of the housing. The ends of the spring are coupled to a respective spike base such that the central bowed portion tends to pull the spikes inward. A perspective view of a suitable spring is shown in
The shaft 62 is coupled to the wedges 64 and 66. In one embodiment, the shaft 62 comprises a threaded portion 74 and a head portion 76. The front wedge 64 has a throughhole and the rear wedge 66 has an internally threaded portion therein. The shaft is inserted into the throughhole of the wedge 64 until the wedge 64 reaches the head portion 76 as shown in
Referring to
Specifically, the threaded portion 74 of the shaft rotates clockwise in the inside of the wedge 66. Since the shaft motion to the right in
Thus, each of the wedges 64,66 moves in the right and left directions, respectively, and pushes against the base portions of each spike until the top portions of each spike are exposed to the outside of the housing 60 via the holes 80.
5. Cam Shaft Drivers
In one embodiment, each pair of spikes is coupled to springs 96 similar to the embodiment of
In one embodiment, the cam shaft 610 has two orientations corresponding to whether the spikes 94 are in the extended mode or in the retracted mode as shown in
6. Worm Gear Train Drivers
Referring again to
This gear assembly which is engaged with the spikes 112 that are in this embodiment provided with geared heads to engage the spur gears 108, 110 such that the spikes rotate in response to worm gear train rotation. The top portion of the spikes are externally threaded and engage internally threaded openings in the housing. Spike rotation then causes the spikes to move outward into the extended position.
In these embodiments, the spikes are prevented from rotating by being made in a hex shape and residing in mating hex shaped openings 130 in the housing 118. Because the spikes are held rotationally fixed as the worm gear nuts turn, the threaded coupling between the worm gear nuts and the spikes pushes the spikes out of the housing as the worm gear nuts rotate. The worm gear nut 122 is configured such that its rotation moves the spike in an upper direction as shown in
7. Rack and Pinion Gear Train Drivers
Referring to
While the above description has pointed out novel features of the invention as applied to various embodiments, the skilled person will understand that various omissions, substitutions, and changes in the form and details of the device or process illustrated may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All variations coming within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are embraced within their scope.
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) from provisional application No. 60/453,242 filed Mar. 7, 2003, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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60453242 | Mar 2003 | US |