Patent ID: 6981981

Claim:
A method comprising selecting a vertebral body for treatment having a cortical wall enclosing a cancellous bone volume, providing a void creation device including an expandable structure having an expanded configuration and an unexpanded configuration, the expandable structure having at least one dimension so that changing the expandable structure from the unexpanded configuration to the expanded configuration while disposed within the cancellous bone volume compacts only a first region of the cancellous bone volume substantially without compacting a second region of the cancellous bone volume different from the first cancellous bone volume, introducing the void creation device into the vertebral body through a percutaneous access path, changing the expandable structure while disposed within the cancellous bone volume from the unexpanded configuration to the expanded configuration to compact only a first region of the cancellous bone volume substantially without compacting a second region of the cancellous bone volume different from the first cancellous bone volume, and placing a volume of filling material within the first region through the percutaneous access path.