Apparatus for fusing adjacent bone structures
First Claim
1. An apparatus for facilitating fusion of adjacent vertebrae, which comprises an implant body dimensioned for positioning within an intervertebral space defined between adjacent vertebrae, the implant body including an outer wall defining a longitudinal axis and at least one thread disposed on the outer wall for facilitating insertion of the implant body within the intervertebral space, the at least one thread having a concave recess defined therein extending radially inwardly relative to the longitudinal axis of the implant body to a depth which is less than a corresponding height of the at least one thread.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for facilitating fusion of adjacent bony structures includes an implant body dimensioned for positioning between adjacent bone structures to maintain the bone structures in desired spaced relation during interbody fusion. The implant body has an outer wall and an external threaded configuration disposed on the outer wall. At least one concave surface at least partially extends along the implant body. The concave surface advantageously reduces the transverse cross-sectional dimension of the implant member thereby facilitating placement of the implant member in restricted intervertebral areas. In addition, the concave surface enables placement of a pair of implants in nested side-by-side relation. Preferably, the threaded configuration has portions removed along an arc section of the outer wall thereby defining a series of generally longitudinally aligned concave surfaces in individual turns thereof. A system and method for facilitating fusion of adjacent vertebrae is also disclosed.
90 Citations
9 Claims
- 1. An apparatus for facilitating fusion of adjacent vertebrae, which comprises an implant body dimensioned for positioning within an intervertebral space defined between adjacent vertebrae, the implant body including an outer wall defining a longitudinal axis and at least one thread disposed on the outer wall for facilitating insertion of the implant body within the intervertebral space, the at least one thread having a concave recess defined therein extending radially inwardly relative to the longitudinal axis of the implant body to a depth which is less than a corresponding height of the at least one thread.
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6. An apparatus for supporting adjacent vertebrae, which comprises:
a first implant body dimensioned for positioning within an intervertebral space defined between adjacent vertebrae to maintain the adjacent vertebrae in predetermined spaced relation during healing, the first implant body including an outer wall defining a longitudinal axis and a threaded configuration, the threaded configuration dimensioned to engage bone tissue of the adjacent vertebrae upon rotation of the first implant body to facilitate advancement within the intervertebral space, the first implant body including a plurality of interrupted concave recesses disposed in spaced relation along the longitudinal axis and arranged in general longitudinal alignment with respect to the longitudinal axis, the concave recesses extending radially inwardly to a depth less than a height of a thread of the threaded configuration, the first implant body being dimensioned to reduce an overall cross sectional dimension of the first implant body to thereby facilitate positioning within the intervertebral space. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9)
Specification