Patent ID: 7846208

Claim:
A medical method for treating a defect in the annulus of a patient's intervertebral disc, said method comprising: providing a device releasably mounted to a delivery tool, the device having a body including a mid section disposed between open first and second ends, the mid section including a plurality of elongate filaments extending between said ends, the elongate filaments of the mid section being laterally expandable and longitudinally contractible between a delivery configuration and a deployed configuration, wherein at least the mid section is sized smaller than the defect in the delivery configuration, and wherein at least a portion of the mid section is sized larger than the defect in the deployed configuration, the delivery tool having an inner delivery member slidably disposed within an outer delivery member, wherein the device is coaxially disposed on and releasably secured to the inner delivery member with the inner delivery member extending through the open first and second ends of the device and the first end of the device abutting a distal end of the outer delivery member when in the delivery configuration; and implanting the device including: inserting the device, in the delivery configuration, through the defect such that the device is positioned entirely within the patient's intervertebral disc; proximally displacing the inner delivery member relative to the outer delivery member to urge the first and second ends of the device toward one another thereby laterally expanding the device to the deployed configuration such that the device substantially spans the defect within the disc; and releasing the device from the inner delivery member.