Patent ID: 8864801
Filing Date: 2014-10-21
Classification: A61F

Abstract:
1. A method for increasing the stiffness of an intervertebral disc between adjacent vertebral bodies of a spine of a patient using a syringe having a needle, and using a material having a first stage with a first viscosity adapted to flow through the needle, the material having a second stage with a second viscosity greater than the first viscosity, the intervertebral disc having an outer region being an annulus fibrosus and a central region being a nucleus pulposus, the method comprising: injecting a testing liquid into the annulus fibrosus of the disc to determine whether the annulus fibrosus has sufficient continuity to be able to retain the material in the first stage when the material in the first stage is subsequently injected into the disc; after injecting the testing liquid, inserting a distal end of the needle into the annulus fibrosus, the distal end of the needle being approximately in the range of 16 to 25 gauge; injecting the material in the first stage through the needle and into the disc without first removing any of the nucleus pulposus, the material in the first stage having the first viscosity, and flowing through the needle and into the disc; removing the needle from the disc and from the patient while the material is in the disc in the first stage and leaving a puncture in the annulus fibrosus from the removal of the needle from the disc, the puncture being sufficiently small enough to prevent the material in the first stage from seeping from the disc; and permitting the material, after removing the needle from the disc and from the patient, in the first stage to become the material in the second stage so as to form a load bearing implant in the disc to increase the stiffness of at least a portion of the disc, the material in the second stage having a stiffness in a range of 1.0-5.0 MPa.