Method and apparatus for spinal distraction and fusion
First Claim
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1. An axially-extending implantable rod for adjusting a distance between two adjacent vertebral bodies in a spine, said rod having an elongated body comprising:
- a first section near a leading end of the rod that has a first threading for directly engaging with a first vertebral body;
a second section near a trailing end of the rod that has a second threading having a base diameter and a major diameter for directly engaging with a second vertebral body that is located proximally relative to the first vertebral body; and
an intermediate section extending between the first section and the second section;
at least one transverse aperture extending through the body in the intermediate section;
wherein a first major diameter of the first threading is less than the base diameter of the second threading;
wherein a first thread pitch in the first section is finer relative to a second thread pitch in the second section such that advancement of the first section distally into the first vertebral body by rotation causes an increase in distance between the first and second vertebral bodies.
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Abstract
The invention provides an implantable spinal distraction/fusion rod with varied thread pitch and diameters along different portions of its length that it is capable of distracting two or more vertebral bodies relative to each other and/or facilitating the procedure of fusing the vertebral bodies together from within the spine. The present invention also provides for methods of using the rod to distract and/or fuse two or more vertebral bodies from within the spine.
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Citations
77 Claims
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1. An axially-extending implantable rod for adjusting a distance between two adjacent vertebral bodies in a spine, said rod having an elongated body comprising:
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a first section near a leading end of the rod that has a first threading for directly engaging with a first vertebral body;
a second section near a trailing end of the rod that has a second threading having a base diameter and a major diameter for directly engaging with a second vertebral body that is located proximally relative to the first vertebral body; and
an intermediate section extending between the first section and the second section;
at least one transverse aperture extending through the body in the intermediate section;
wherein a first major diameter of the first threading is less than the base diameter of the second threading;
wherein a first thread pitch in the first section is finer relative to a second thread pitch in the second section such that advancement of the first section distally into the first vertebral body by rotation causes an increase in distance between the first and second vertebral bodies. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method of treating the spine, comprising the steps of:
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determining a desired change in disc height between targeted vertebral bodies, wherein the targeted vertebral bodies comprise a proximal body and a distal body;
selecting an axially-extending rod with appropriate thread pitches in a distal section and a proximal section to achieve the desired change in height;
accessing the targeted bodies by creating an axial bore that extends in the distal direction from a sacral target point to a disc space between the targeted bodies;
extending the axial bore in the distal direction to create an extended portion of the axial bore, wherein the extended portion has a smaller diameter than the portion of the axial bore extending from the sacral target point to the disc space between the targeted bodies;
advancing and implanting the selected rod into the targeted bodies to achieve the desired change in disc height. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77)
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Specification