Patent ID: 9707017
Date: 2017-07-18
CPC Classifications: A61B,A61F

Claim:
1. An interspinous process spacer implant for being implanted between spinous processes of neighboring vertebrae, said interspinous process spacer implant comprising: a first body with a first central part which extends over a first length in a first longitudinal direction and a first height in a first transverse direction perpendicular to said first longitudinal direction and which has a first upper bearing surface for contacting an upper one of the spinous processes and a first lower bearing surface for contacting a lower one of the spinous processes where the first lower bearing surface is located at a distance from the first upper bearing surface in the first transverse direction, the first body being equipped with a first upper projection extending upwards from the first upper bearing surface and with a first lower projection extending downwards from the first lower bearing surface, where the first upper projection and the first lower projection are located in opposite longitudinal sections of the of the first central part; a second body with a second central part which extends over a second length in a second longitudinal direction and a second height in a second transverse direction perpendicular to said second longitudinal direction and which has a second upper bearing surface for contacting the upper one of the spinous processes and a second lower bearing surface for contacting the lower one of the spinous processes where the second lower bearing surface is located at a distance from the second upper bearing surface in the second transverse direction, the second body being equipped with a second upper projection extending upwards from the second upper bearing surface of the second central part and with a second lower projection extending downwards from the second lower bearing surface of the second central part, where the second upper projection and the second lower projection are located in opposite longitudinal sections of the of the second central part; a hinge connecting the first central part and the second central part to one another which is located off-center in the first and second longitudinal directions in each of the first and second central parts and allows rotating the first body and the second body relative to one another in a forward direction about a rotation axis extending perpendicular to said first and second longitudinal directions and perpendicular to said first and second transverse directions to vary an angle between the first and second longitudinal directions, where the hinge is located in the first central part in the longitudinal section where the first upper projection extends upwards from the first upper bearing surface and in the second central part in the longitudinal section where the second lower projection extends downwards from the second lower bearing surface; and an arresting mechanism acting between the first central part and the second central part for blocking a reverse rotation of the first and second bodies relative to one another about the rotation axis, the arresting mechanism providing at least a first arrest position for preventing a reverse rotation when the first and second bodies are in a rotational position relative to one another in which the longitudinal directions of the first and second central parts include a first angle between 0° and 30° and a second arrest position for preventing a reverse rotation when the first and second bodies are in a rotational position relative to one another in which the longitudinal directions of the first and second central parts include a second angle between 0° and 30° where the second angle differs from the first angle, one of said first body and said second body including a resilient arm and the other one of said first body and said second body including a protrusion, with the resilient arm and protrusion cooperatively providing the arresting mechanism, said resilient arm and said protrusion being engaged with each other in each of the first and second arrest positions to restrict said reverse rotation while permitting forward rotation, said upper bearing surfaces and said lower bearing surfaces defining, respectively, upper and lower contact points on which the corresponding spinous processes are adapted to rest, with a contact distance between the contact points associated with a spinous process distance between the spinous processes, said resilient arm and said protrusion permitting, in each of the first and second arrest positions, the contact distance to be increased by rotating the first and second bodies relative to one another in the forward direction.