EP0353936A1
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Prosthetic disc containing therapeutic material
Assignee: RayMedica Inc
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Filing: 1989-07-25
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2009-07-25
Abstract
Abstract By implanting two prosthetic disc capsules (10, 10a) side-by-side into a damaged disc (26) of a human spine, both height and motion, including front-to-back bending, can be maintained. Each prosthetic disc capsule (10, 10a) has a bladder (18) enclosing a fluid containing a therapeutic material that is slowly diffusible through a semipermeable membrane of the bladder (18). The fluid filling the semipermeable membrane preferably is an aqueous solution that has gel-like properties that afford a viscosity and velocity-shear behaviour imitating the natural rheology of intradiscal nuclear tissue. Those properties are obtained when the aqueous solution is of a mucopolysaccharide such as hyaluronic acid or sodium hyaluronate.
Inventors
- 👤 Charles D. Ray
- 👤 Terry P. Corbin
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-23 00:39
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61L; A61L27/00; A61L27/02; A61L27/04; A61F; A61F2/00; A61F2/02; A61F2/30; A61F2/44; A61F2/441; A61F2/46; A61F2/4603; A61F2/4611; A61L27/40; A61L27/44; C; C08; C08L; C08L67/00; C08L67/04; A61F2/3094; A61F2/30965; A61F2/442; A61F2002/30001; A61F2002/30003; A61F2002/3006; A61F2002/30062; A61F2002/30108; A61F2002/30199; A61F2002/30224; A61F2002/30235; A61F2002/30667; A61F2002/30677; A61F2002/448; A61F2002/4625; A61F2002/4627; A61F2210/00; A61F2210/0004; A61F2230/00; A61F2230/0063; A61F2230/0069; A61L2430/00; A61L2430/38; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S128/00; Y10S128/20; Y10S424/00; Y10S424/07
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 18
Claim 1
Independent Claim
71 words
An elongated cylindrical prosthetic intervertebral disc capsule having a diameter approximating the height of a human disc space and a length approaching the sagittal diameter of the vertebral body, said capsule comprising: a flexible bladder which is chemically and biologically inert and comprises a semipermeable membrane enclosing a fluid containing a therapeutic material that is slowly diffusible through the semipermeable membrane, and a layer of strong fibers encompassing the fluid-filled membrane.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
71 words
An elongated cylindrical prosthetic intervertebral disc capsule having a diameter approximating the height of a human disc space and a length approaching the sagittal diameter of the vertebral body, said capsule comprising: a flexible bladder which is chemically and biologically inert and comprises a semipermeable membrane enclosing a fluid containing a therapeutic material that is slowly diffusible through the semipermeable membrane, and a layer of strong fibers encompassing the fluid-filled membrane.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
38 words
A prosthetic disc capsule as defined in claim 1 wherein the therapeutic agent comprises at least one of a hormone, a neurotransmitter peptide, an anti-inflammatory substance, a neurotropic factor, an anesthetic, a depository steroid, and a growth factor.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
21 words
A prosthetic disc capsule as defined in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the semipermeable membrane is a microporous organic film.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
17 words
A prosthetic disc capsule as defined in claim 3 wherein the microporous organic film is microporous polytetrafluoroethylene.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
32 words
A prosthetic disc capsule as defined in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the semipermeable membrane is a tightly woven fabric of oriented poly(ethylene terephthalate) fibres that has been plasma-deposited with polytetrafluoroethylene.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
31 words
A prosthetic disc capsule as defined in any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the pore size of the semipermeable membranes is sufficiently small to block the passage to human cells.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
24 words
A prosthetic disc capsule as defined in claim 6, wherein the pore size of the semipermeable membrane is on the order of 1-7 micrometers.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
22 words
A prosthetic disc capsule as defined in any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the bladder also comprises flexible impermeable organic film.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
55 words
A prosthetic disc capsule as defined in claim 8, wherein the semipermeable membrane is a tube, the diameter of which approximates the thickness of a human disc, and the length of which approximates the sagittal diameter of the vertebral body, and the ends of the tube are sealed to circles of an impermeable organic film.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
36 words
A prosthetic disc capsule as defined in any of claims 1 to 9, wherein the fluid filling the bladder is a gel having a viscosity and velocity-shear behaviour imitating the natural rheology of intradiscal nuclear tissue.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
22 words
A prosthetic disc capsule as defined in claim 10, wherein the fluid filling the bladder is an aqueous solution of a mucopolysaccharide.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
20 words
A prosthetic disc capsule as defined in claim 11, wherein the mucopolysaccharide is selected from hyaluronic acid and sodium hyaluronate.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
33 words
A prosthetic disc capsule as defined in any of claims 1 to 12, having strong, inert fibres woven into the outer layer and extending transversely through the semipermeable membrane to limit lateral bulging.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
19 words
A prosthetic disc capsule as defined in claim 13, wherein a bioresorbable material is intermingled with the inert fibres.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
22 words
A prosthetic disc capsule as defined in claim 14, wherein said bioresorbable material comprises fibres which are interwoven with said inert fibres.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
19 words
A prosthetic disc capsule as defined in claim 14, wherein said bioresorbable material is coated on the inert fibres.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
41 words
A prosthetic disc capsule as defined in any of claims 1 to 16 and including a hollow tubing communicating with the interior of said membrane and an external chamber, and means for injecting or withdrawing fluid into or from the chamber.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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