Patent ID: 7955357

Claim:
An apparatus for treatment of a scoliotic curve in a spine of a subject comprising: an expanding rod having first and second ends, configured for subcutaneous placement along a length of the spine including at least two non-adjacent vertebrae, the expanding rod comprising an outer sleeve and an inner sleeve telescopically disposed in the outer sleeve; a drive unit disposed in the outer sleeve and operatively coupled to the inner sleeve, wherein actuation of the drive unit extends the inner sleeve longitudinally relative to the outer sleeve; and a rotational swivel disposed on at least one of the first and second ends of the expanding rod, the rotational swivel comprising a socket configured to swivel freely about a pin that is urged into the socket under axial compression and separates from the socket under tension to convert lateral scoliotic curving of the spine into kyphotic forward spinal flexion as the expanding rod expands.