US 11,752,007 B2
Expandable intervertebral implant system and method
James Q. Spitler, Winter Garden, FL (US); Peter M. Harris, Boca Raton, FL (US); and Luis Escobar, Boca Raton, FL (US)
Assigned to FLOSPINE, LLC, Boca Raton, FL (US)
Filed by FloSpine, LLC, Boca Raton, FL (US)
Filed on Jan. 5, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/569,339.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/133,989, filed on Jan. 5, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2022/0211514 A1, Jul. 7, 2022
Int. Cl. A61F 2/44 (2006.01)
CPC A61F 2/4425 (2013.01) [A61F 2002/443 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An expandable intervertebral implant comprising:
an upper endplate comprising:
a proximal end;
a proximal ramp near the proximal end, the proximal ramp comprising a pair of upper proximal rails;
a distal end; and
a distal ramp near the distal end, the distal ramp comprising a pair of upper distal rails;
a lower endplate comprising:
a proximal end;
a proximal ramp near the proximal end, the proximal ramp comprising a pair of lower proximal rails;
a distal end; and
a distal ramp near the distal end, the distal ramp comprising a pair of lower distal rails;
an actuator assembly positioned between the upper endplate and the lower endplate, the actuator assembly comprising:
a proximal wedge positioned between the proximal end of the upper endplate and the proximal end of the lower endplate;
a distal wedge positioned between the distal end of the upper endplate and the distal end of the lower endplate; and
an actuator that engages both the proximal wedge and the distal wedge such that activation of the actuator in a first direction draws both the proximal wedge and the distal wedge toward each other to move the implant to an expanded configuration, and activation of the actuator in a second direction separates both the proximal wedge and the distal wedge from each other to move the implant toward a collapsed configuration; and
wherein the lower distal rails and the lower proximal rails are closer to a central plane than the upper distal rails and the upper proximal rails, wherein the central plane extends from the proximal end of the upper endplate to the distal end of the upper endplate and from the proximal end of the lower endplate to the distal end of the lower endplate and divides a left side of the expandable intervertebral implant from a right side of the expandable intervertebral implant.