Expandable Self-Anchoring Interbody Cage for Orthopedic Applications

• US 20130158669A1
• Filed: 02/13/2013
• Published: 06/20/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/13/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Blue Tip Biologics, LLC
• Original Assignee: Allen W. Riley, Arno Sungarian, Bradley Cole, Philip Kuszpa
• Inventors: Sungarian, Arno, Kuszpa, Philip, Allen, W. Riley, Cole, Bradley
• Granted Patent: US 9,233,007 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 623/17.16
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/442 Intervertebral or spinal discs, e.g. resilient non-disc-shaped intervertebral inflatable pockets A61F2/441; non-disc-shaped intervertebral fusion implants A61F2/4455
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/447 substantially parallelepipedal, e.g. having a rectangular or trapezoidal cross-section
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/2835 Bone graft implants for filling a bony defect or an endoprosthesis cavity, e.g. by synthetic material or biological material
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/30507 using a threaded locking member, e.g. a locking screw or a set screw
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/30556 for adjusting thickness
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/30772 Apertures or holes, e.g. of circular cross section

Abstract

The present invention is directed to an expandable spinal fusion intervertebral implant that provides for maintaining and creating lordosis in the human spine that can be filled with biologics while in situ to encourage spinal fusion. A threaded rod that traverses an insertion/injection handle can be rotated to operate a screw within the interbody cage that displaces opposing vertical tapped sliding wedges, causing them to converge towards each other. Such contact causes the operation of a horizontal wedge that acts as a lift to expand the interbody cage to one of various dimensions in a preferred range. At its desired expansion, the spinal fusion implant of the present invention is sized to fit within the disc space between two vertebral bodies and fill all voids left while the vertical and horizontal wedges operate within, due to the biologics being contained within the interbody cage.

Claims

1. An expandable spinal fusion interbody cage comprising:

a leading end for insertion into the space between two adjacent vertebrae and a trailing end opposing said leading end;

a top and bottom surface between said leading and trailing ends, generally parallel, each having rectangular openings thereon to promote biologics to permit bone growth;

opposite sides between said top and said bottom, and a maximum length of said cage being greater than the width and maximum height of said cage;

a horizontal slotted wedge member comprising four support risers that contact the bottom surface of said cage when said cage is in an unexpanded state;

two vertical tapped sliding wedges, each having a circular opening thereon that are threaded to accept a screw;

a screw that traverses the body of said cage with one end that penetrates the leading end and whose head is visible from the trailing end.

2. The cage of claim 1, wherein said rectangular openings on the top and bottom surface are 14 mm×

6 mm.

3. The cage of claim 1, wherein said opposite sides are a flat solid surface.

4. The cage of claim 1, wherein said opposite sides have openings to promote biologics to permit bone growth;

5. The cage of claim 1, wherein said horizontal wedge member is in an angular relationship with said vertical tapped sliding wedges;

6. The cage of claim 1, wherein said vertical tapped sliding wedges are in an angular relationship with said horizontal slotted wedge.

7. The cage of claim 1, wherein said screw is reversed threaded from the midpoint.

8. The cage of claim 1, wherein the converging vertical tapped sliding wedges each comprise an expansion limiting structure that engages with an expansion limiting structure in said horizontal slotted wedge to limit the linear expansion of said horizontal wedge.

9. The cage of claim 1, wherein said leading end has two angular surfaces and one flat surface that is trapezoidal in shape.

10. The cage of claim 9, wherein said leading end is tapered for facilitating the insertion of said cage between two adjacent vertebral bodies.

11. The cage of claim 1, wherein said trailing end has four openings to permit the flow of biologics into said cage from an insertion/injection tool.

12. The cage of claim 10, wherein said openings have a diameter in the range of 1 mm to 2 mm.

13. The cage of claim 1, wherein said trailing end has two openings that are configured to accept an insertion/injection tool to place said cage in its desired location adjacent to two vertebrae.

14. The cage of claim 12, wherein said openings have a diameter in the range of 2 mm to 4 mm.

15. The cage of claim 1, wherein said cage can expand to a height in the range of 5 mm to 20 mm.

16. The cage of claim 1 having a plurality of openings capable of retaining biologics to promote the growth of bone.

17. The cage of claim 1, wherein said cage has a depth and width in the range if 10 mm to 20 mm for use in the cervical spine.

18. The cage of claim 1, wherein said cage has a depth and width in the range of 15 mm to 30 mm for use in the thoracic spine.

19. The cage of claim 1, wherein said cage has a depth in the range of 20 mm to 35 mm and a width in the range of 10 mm to 40 mm for use in the lumbar spine.