Intervertebral implants, systems, and methods of use
View Patent ↗An intervertebral implant frame that is configured to be attached to a spacer body can include a pair of arms that extend longitudinally from a support member such that the arms extend substantially around the spacer body. The arms may be configured to expand, crimp, or otherwise engage the spacer body to thereby hold the spacer body to the frame. The spacer body may be made from bone graft.
1. An intervertebral implant frame configured to support a spacer body in an intervertebral space that is defined by a first vertebral body and a second vertebral body, the intervertebral implant frame comprising:
a support member having a body that defines first and second vertebral body facing surfaces, the second vertebral body facing surface spaced from the first vertebral body facing surface along a first direction, the body further defining at least two fixation element receiving apertures that extend through the support member and are each configured to receive a respective bone fixation element,
a first tab and a second tab that each extend from the first vertebral body facing surface and are spaced from each other along a second direction that is substantially perpendicular to the first direction so as to define a gap that extends between the first and second tabs along the second direction, each of the first and second tabs being configured to abut the first vertebral body when the intervertebral implant is inserted in the intervertebral space;
first and second arms that extend from the support member and include, respectively, a first inner spacer contacting surface and a second inner spacer contacting surface that is spaced from the first inner spacer contacting surface along the second direction such that the first arm and the second arm are configured to grip and retain the spacer body, the first arm including a first expansion instrument engagement member defining a first dove-tailed slot open at a distal end of the first dove-tailed slot such that the first dove-tailed slot is configured to receive an expansion instrument in a direction that is opposite an insertion direction of the intervertebral implant frame, the second arm including a second expansion instrument engagement member defining a second dove-tailed slot open at a distal end of the second dove-tailed slot such that the second dove-tailed slot is configured to receive the expansion instrument in the direction that is opposite the insertion direction,
wherein the gap is configured to receive a portion of the first vertebral body when each of the first and second tabs abuts the first vertebral body.
2. The intervertebral implant frame of claim 1 , wherein the support member further includes third and fourth tabs that each extend from the second vertebral body facing surface along the first direction and away from the first and second tabs such that the third tab and the fourth tab are spaced from each other along the second direction so as to define a gap between the third and fourth tabs.
3. The intervertebral implant frame of claim 2 , wherein the gap between the third and fourth tabs is configured to receive a portion of the second vertebral body when the first and second arms are inserted into the intervertebral space.
4. The intervertebral implant frame of claim 3 , wherein the first and second tabs each defines a bone contacting surface that is configured to abut the first vertebral body when the first and second arms are inserted into the intervertebral space, and the third and fourth tabs each defines a bone contacting surface that is configured to abut the second vertebral body when the first and second arms are inserted into the intervertebral space.
5. The intervertebral implant frame of claim 4 , wherein the support member body defines a front face and an inner face spaced from the front face along a third direction that is substantially perpendicular to the first and second directions, and wherein the gap between the first and second tabs and the gap between the third and fourth tabs are each sized such that when the first and second arms are inserted into the intervertebral space portions of the first and second vertebral bodies extend through the gaps and beyond the front face.
6. The intervertebral implant frame of claim 3 , wherein the first tab is spaced from the second tab along the second direction by a first distance, and the third tab is spaced from the fourth tab along the second direction by a second distance that is less than the first distance.
7. The intervertebral implant frame of claim 1 , wherein the first and second arms are capable of retaining a spacer body consisting of cancellous bone.
8. The intervertebral implant frame of claim 1 , wherein the first arm and the second arm are angled toward each other such that an inner face of the support member and the first inner spacer contacting surface forms an angle that is less than 90°, and the inner face of the support member and the second inner spacer contacting surface forms an angle that is less than 90°.
9. The intervertebral implant frame of claim 1 , wherein the first and second arms define first and second lengths that are between about 50% and 100% of an anterior-posterior length of the intervertebral space.
10. The intervertebral implant frame of claim 1 , wherein the first and second tabs have an equidistant spacing from a centerline of the frame.
11. The intervertebral implant frame of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first and second arms is configured to elastically expand with respect to the other of the first and second arms in response to an expansion force.
12. The intervertebral implant frame of claim 1 , further comprising at least one tab that extends from the second vertebral body facing surface along the first direction.
13. The intervertebral implant frame of claim 12 , wherein the support member body defines an inner face and a front face spaced from the inner face along a third direction that is substantially perpendicular to the first and second directions, and wherein the first tab, the second tab and the at least one tab are spaced relative to each other so as to allow at least a portion of an anterior surface of at least one of the first and second vertebral bodies to be substantially flush with or extend beyond the front face of the support member body.
14. The intervertebral implant frame of claim 12 , wherein each of the first tab, the second tab, and the at least one tab defines a respective bone contacting surface and a respective front face spaced from the respective bone contacting surface along a third direction that is substantially perpendicular to the first and second directions, and wherein the first tab, the second tab, and the at least one tab are spaced relative to each other so as to allow at least a portion of an anterior surface of at least one of the first and second vertebral bodies to be substantially flush with or extend beyond the front faces of the first, second, and at least one tabs when the bone contacting surfaces of the first, second, and at least one tabs abut the anterior surfaces of the first and second vertebral bodies.