Patent ID: 8137352

Claim:
An intervertebral tissue removal system comprising: at least one abrading member for abrading tissue in an area to be cleared; at least one expandable member including a housing and at least one node, the node operable to be expanded from a first condition to a second condition, wherein a first end portion of the at least one abrading member is fixed to the housing and the volume defined by the at least one expandable member in the second condition is greater than the volume defined by the at least one expandable member in the first condition, the at least one expandable member operably connected to a second portion of the at least one abrading member that is not fixed to the housing such that as the at least one node expands from the first condition to the second condition, the at least one abrading member is pivoted by the at least one node from a first position to a second position; an expansion media for insertion within the at least one expandable member; and an expansion media conduit connected to the at least one expandable member for delivering the expansion media to the at least one expandable member to expand the at least one expandable member from the first condition to the second condition.