Patent ID: 6764514
Filing Date: 2004-07-20
Classification: A61F

Abstract:
A prosthetic intervertebral nucleus for implantation in a chamber of an intervertebral disc after removal of at least a portion of a damaged or degenerated nucleus from the chamber, the prosthetic nucleus comprising:a wafer of biologically compatible, thin, flexible, and expandable material having a first substantially planar structural configuration defining a first thickness substantially less than a height of the disc chamber; said wafer having a second non-planar mechanically re-shaped structural configuration defining a cross-section sufficiently small to permit travel of said wafer through a cannula and into the disc chamber; said wafer substantially regaining the first structural configuration thereof by memory upon entry into the disc chamber; and said wafer having a third expanded structural configuration formed by a reaction to an expansion-inducing agent in the disc chamber, said third structural configuration defining a second thickness approximately equal to the height of the disc chamber.