Devices and methods for the restoration of a spinal disc

Patent Number: 7914537, issued on 2011/03/29    
Applied on 2008/11/21
Inventor(s): Lawrence M Boyd, Maureen L Upton
Assignee: Spine Wave, Inc.

Abstract: A system and method is provided for maintaining a proper intervertebral disc height during the replacement or augmentation of the spinal disc. In one embodiment, a cannulated distractor is used to distract the adjacent vertebrae and maintain a proper disc space height. The cannulated distractor is fluidly connected to a source of fluent material for injection into the disc space. The distraction includes a distraction tip resident within the disc space that includes a central lumen and a number of openings communicating with the lumen to dispense the fluent material within the disc space.