Artificial vertebral body
DCFirst Claim
1. An implantable artificial vertebra which is biocompatible and sized for replacing a metastatic vertebra, comprising:
- a first hollow component having an abutting end for abutting a vertebra of a living being and an anchoring window formed in said abutting end, an open first side establishing an access window, and an open end formed opposite said abutting end;
a second hollow component having a second abutting end for abutting a vertebra of a living being and a second anchoring window formed in said second abutting end, an open first side establishing a second access window, and a second open end formed opposite said second abutting end, the second component being slidably receivable through the open end of said first component; and
motion preventing means engageable with both of said components for substantially preventing slidable motion between said components.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A prosthetic vertebra has a first hollow parallelepiped-shaped component and a second component shaped identically to the first component and marginally smaller than the first component. The second component can accordingly be positioned partially within the first component and can be axially moved within the first component, so that the overall length of the prosthetic vertebra can be established by appropriately moving the second component within the first. A set screw is threadably engageable with the first component and can be tightened against the second component to hold the components axially stationary relative to each other, once the prosthetic vertebra has been positioned in the patient and its length adjusted as appropriate to fit the patient.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. An implantable artificial vertebra which is biocompatible and sized for replacing a metastatic vertebra, comprising:
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a first hollow component having an abutting end for abutting a vertebra of a living being and an anchoring window formed in said abutting end, an open first side establishing an access window, and an open end formed opposite said abutting end; a second hollow component having a second abutting end for abutting a vertebra of a living being and a second anchoring window formed in said second abutting end, an open first side establishing a second access window, and a second open end formed opposite said second abutting end, the second component being slidably receivable through the open end of said first component; and motion preventing means engageable with both of said components for substantially preventing slidable motion between said components. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for replacing a metastatic vertebra located between a first and a second vertebra of a patient, comprising;
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removing the metastatic vertebra from the patient; providing a first hollow component having an abutting end for abutting a vertebra of a living being and an anchoring window formed in said abutting end, an open first side establishing an access window, and an open end formed opposite said abutting end; providing a second hollow component having an abutting end, said second abutting end for abutting a vertebra of a living being and a second anchoring window formed in said second abutting end, an open first side establishing a second access window, and a second open end formed opposite said second abutting end, said components being slidably engaged with each other to establish an implantable artificial vertebra which is biocompatible and having an adjustable length; positioning said artificial vertebra between said first and second vertebrae; sliding the first hollow component relative to the second hollow component to establish the length of the artificial vertebra to be substantially equal to a predetermined distance between the first and second vertebrae; preventing relative motion between the first and second components; and respectively connecting the first and second components to the first and second vertebrae. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An artificial implantable vertebra which is biocompatible and positionable between a first and second vertebra to establish a predetermined distance therebetween, comprising:
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a first and a second hollow component, each component generally shaped as an elongated parallelepiped having an open end and abutting end having an abutting end surface for abutting an associated vertebra and an anchoring window formed in said abutting end surface, each component having first, second, and third closed sides and an open side having an access window formed therein, said access window being bounded by a lip, and the second component being slidably receivable through the open end of the first component to establish an adjustable length of the artificial vertebra; a hole formed in the lip of the open side of the first component; a screw engageable with said hole to abut said second component to hold said second component stationary with respect to said first component and thereby establish a predetermined length for said artificial vertebra, said predetermined length being established to be approximately equal to the predetermined distance between the first and second vertebrae; an aperture formed in the abutting end surface of each component; and a bolt engageable with each aperture and the associated vertebra to hold the component against the vertebra.
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Specification