Patent ID: 6936072

Claim:
A method of making an intervertebral prosthesis comprising the steps of: placing a first biocompatible encapsulating material over a heatable mold with a curved face, said first biocompatible encapsulating material sized to extend from about 0.1 mm to about 0.5 mm beyond the edges of a barrier frame; placing the barrier frame on the first encapsulating material, said barrier frame dimensioned to span beyond the distance defined by the maximum distance between an inferior and superior endplate of a normal intervertebral disc and to extend circumferentially along the lateral and posterior surfaces of an anulus, wherein at least a portion of said barrier has a curvilinear cross-section and is comprised of nickel titanium alloy; placing a second encapsulating material on top of the barrier frame, said second biocompatible encapsulating material designed to extend from about 0.1 mm to about 5 mm beyond the edges of the barrier frame; placing a mold cover with a concave interior corresponding to face of the mold on top of the second encapsulating material and applying force such that the edges of the first and second encapsulating material form one or more contact points with each other around the barrier frame; and heating the base and the cover and the frame sandwiched between the first and the second encapsulating material until the first and second encapsulating material bond to each other at said one or more contact points.