Patent ID: 7879009

Claim:
An orthopedic needle assembly comprising: a needle comprising a hollow shaft having opposed distal and proximal ends and a lumen extending from said distal end of said hollow shaft and terminating at an opening on said proximal end of said hollow shaft, said distal end having an expandable needle head having 2 to 6 segments and a cutting surface, said segments configured to be interconnected to each other by a plurality of ductile hinges in an alternating arrangement to form a substantially cylindrical tube, said substantially cylindrical tube configured to expand or compress from a first diameter to a second diameter by deformation of said ductile hinges without substantial deformation of said segments, said plurality of ductile hinges configured to deform resiliently upon radial expansion or compression of said expandable needle head; said cutting surface configured for penetration into an intervertebral disc of a patient wherein said cutting surface comprises a sharpened edge extending along a portion of a bottom of said expandable needle head; and a movable band positioned around a portion of said expandable needle head and said segments and ductile hinges of said expandable needle head, wherein the expandable needle head is configured to expand to an expanded diameter upon movement of said movable band from a first position to a second position and said segments and ductile hinges of said expandable needle head are configured to compress to a diameter smaller than said expanded diameter upon movement of said movable band from said second position back to said first position.