Patent ID: 8187327

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: a scaffold configured to be disposed in a bone, the scaffold configured to move from a first configuration to a second configuration, the scaffold in the second configuration being expanded from the first configuration; a shaft extending along a longitudinal axis with the scaffold removably coupled to and extending from a distal end of the shaft along the longitudinal axis, wherein in the first configuration the distal end of the shaft and the scaffold coupled to and extending from the distal end along the longitudinal axis have substantially similar outer diameters; and a selectively-expandable actuator configured to be removably disposed within the scaffold through the shaft, the selectively-expandable actuator configured to move at least a portion of the scaffold to the second configuration when the selectively-expandable actuator is moved from a collapsed configuration to an expanded configuration, the selectively-expandable actuator configured to be removed from the scaffold when in the collapsed configuration, the entire shape of the selectively-expandable actuator being substantially the same as the entire shape of the scaffold when the selectively-expandable actuator is in the expanded configuration and the scaffold is in the second configuration, the entire shape of the selectively-expandable actuator being substantially the same as the entire shape of the scaffold when the selectively-expandable actuator is in the collapsed configuration and the scaffold is in the first configuration, the scaffold configured to remain substantially in the second configuration after the scaffold has been expanded by the actuator.