This invention provides, inter alia, a device having a cage having an opening or window in at least one of its walls that allows for the insertion of bone growth promoting materials therethrough, comprising one or more openings in one or more of the walls of the cage, designed to receive bone growth promoting materials, including coral-based materials, which facilitate in the fusion with the treated bone, and which optionally serves to reinforce the stability of the implanted structure. Methods of stabilizing two skeletal structures relative to one another, joining two skeletal structures which are discontinuous and repairing a ligament tear or replacing a ligament making use of a bone fusion device of the invention are described.

An implant material may comprise a hole in at least one direction, and a member constituting the hole may comprise grooves. The member constituting the hole may be composed of a pillar and/or a plate. The grooves may be provided in the pillars and/or the plates. Further, a method of manufacturing the implant material may include manufacturing the implant material using a 3D modeling method.

A device promotes osseointegration between two adjacent vertebrae. The device includes a spacer fabric having a top layer, a bottom layer, and intermediate filler fibers connecting the top layer and the bottom layer. The spacer fabric is capable of expanding to fill a gap between two adjacent vertebrae.

The biocompatible lattice structures disclosed herein with an increased or optimized lucency are prepared according to multiple methods of design disclosed herein. The methods allow for the design of a metallic material with sufficient strength for use in an implant and that remains radiolucent for x-ray imaging.

An implant may include a first body member and a second body member, at least one bone contacting arched member, and a first external element extending from the first body member to the second body member, wherein the first external element has an undulating planar geometry in which the first external element undulates in a single plane.

A spinal interbody device fabricated of fully resorbable bioactive glass materials is used to maintain the intervertebral spacing in a fusion of adjacent vertebrae. The spinal interbody device can include regions of porous material having various levels of bioactivity so that fusion through ingrowth of bone tissue can be provided while regions of the spinal interbody device can continue to maintain the intervertebral space.

A medical implant comprising a plurality of layers, each layer comprising a polymer and a plurality of uni-directionally aligned continuous reinforcement fibers.

Devices and methods for fixing defects in the anulus fibrosus (vertebral disc) of a patient are described. The devices include a mesh patch, and first and second suture assemblies, each of which include an anchor and a suture. The anchor has a first portion adapted to be inserted into a bone and a second portion having an opening therethrough. The suture is adapted to be disposed through the opening and has a first end is adapted to couple to the mesh patch. The method of treatment includes inserting the first portion of the first anchor into a cranial vertebra and inserting the second portion of the second anchor into a caudal vertebra. The first ends of the sutures are attached to the mesh patch. The mesh patch is positioned adjacent the defect by pulling on, or applying tension to, the second ends of the sutures.

Spinal implants are described that may be surgically implanted into the spine to replace damaged or diseased discs using a posterior approach. The implants are prosthetic devices that can approach or mimic the physiological motion and reaction of the natural disc. The implants are adapted to be used in minimally invasive surgical procedures.

An expandable implant for treating bone preferably in a minimally invasive manner includes a preferably cylindrical core element extending along a longitudinal axis and preferably a plurality of nestable, expandable sleeves extending along a longitudinal axis for placement radially about the core element. The plurality of nestable sleeves are sequentially insertable over the core element in such a manner that a first nestable sleeve is inserted over the core element and each subsequently inserted nestable sleeve is received between the core element and the previously inserted nestable sleeve such that the insertion of each additional sleeve causes each previously inserted sleeve to outwardly expand.