An orthopedic implant includes an upper portion, a central portion having a greater lateral dimension than that of the upper portion, and a lower portion having a greater lateral dimension than the central portion. The upper portion, the central portion and the lower portion each may have at least one fixation aperture. Further, the upper portion, the central portion and the lower portion may each be non-linear and/or curved relative to at least one plane. An instrument having a body that includes a housing. The body includes a platform, at least one retention mechanism for holding the implant on the platform, an adjustment mechanism to adjust the height of the platform relative to the top surface of the housing, and a lid coupled with the housing with the top surface of the housing and the lid defining a slot configured to receive a cutting instrument.

Tubular casting processes, such as dip-coating, may be used to form substrates from polymeric solutions which may be used to fabricate implantable devices such as stents. The polymeric substrates may have multiple layers which retain the inherent properties of their starting materials and which are sufficiently ductile to prevent brittle fracture. Parameters such as the number of times the mandrel is immersed, the duration of time of each immersion within the solution, as well as the delay time between each immersion or the drying or curing time between dips and withdrawal rates of the mandrel from the solution may each be controlled to result in the desired mechanical characteristics. Additional post-processing may also be utilized to further increase strength of the substrate or to alter its shape.

A spinal implant apparatus that is an expandable spacer including features to minimize or eliminate spacer cant or offset during and after completing the expansion process. The spacer includes a top component, a base component in engagement with the top component, and an expansion mechanism arranged to change the top component's position with respect to the base component. The mechanism for causing expansion may be a screw, a cam, a wedge or other form of distracting device. In one embodiment, the expandable spacer includes a base component with a set of towers and a top component with a set of corresponding silos, where the towers and silos are configured to minimize or eliminate tilt of the top component as it extends upwardly from the base component.

Provided is a coated implantable medical device, comprising: a substrate; and a coating disposed on said substrate, wherein said coating comprises at least one polymer and at least one pharmaceutical agent in a therapeutically desirable morphology and/or at least one active biological agent and optionally, one or more pharmaceutical carrying agents; wherein substantially all of pharmaceutical agent and/or active biological agent remains within said coating and on said substrate until the implantable device is deployed at an intervention site inside the body of a subject and wherein upon deployment of said medical device in the body of said subject a portion of said pharmaceutical agent and/or active biological agent is delivered at said intervention site along with at least a portion of said polymer and/or a at least a portion of said pharmaceutical carrying agents.

A spinal implant apparatus that is an expandable spacer including features to minimize or eliminate spacer cant or offset during and after completing the expansion process. The spacer includes a top component, a base component in engagement with the top component, and an expansion mechanism arranged to change the top component's position with respect to the base component. The mechanism for causing expansion may be a screw, a cam, a wedge or other form of distracting device. In one embodiment, the expandable spacer includes a base component with a set of towers and a top component with a set of corresponding silos, where the towers and silos are configured to minimize or eliminate tilt of the top component as it extends upwardly from the base component. In another embodiment, the spacer may include a stepped arrangement around the perimeter of the top component and the base component for engagement during height expansion with minimal canting or slippage. In another embodiment, the spacer may include texturing modification at the opposite ends of the longitudinal axis of the spacer to prevent tilting, slipping, or canting. Additionally, a portion of one or more exterior surfaces of the spacer may be textured, sawtoothed, dovetailed or the like to increase frictional intervertebral contact. The spacer may contain one or more passageways of selectable shape/dimension for bone growth through the spacer.

The present invention provides a plasticized dehydrated or freeze-dried bone and/or soft tissue product that does not require special conditions of storage, for example refrigeration or freezing, exhibits materials properties that approximate those properties present in normal hydrated tissue, is not brittle, does not necessitate rehydration prior to clinical implantation and is not a potential source for disease transmission. The invention replaces water in the molecular structure of the bone or soft tissue matrix with one or more plasticizers allowing for dehydration of the tissue, yet not resulting in an increase in brittleness of the plasticized product, and resulting in compressive and/or tensile properties similar to those of normal hydrated bone. Replacement of the chemical plasticizers by water prior to implantation is not required and thus, the dehydrated bone or soft tissue plasticized product can be placed directly into an implant site without significant preparation in the operating room.

An embodiment includes an orthopedic fusion system comprising: a cage; a curved first channel coupling a lateral wall of the cage to a superior surface of the cage; a curved second channel coupling the lateral wall of the cage to an inferior surface of the cage; a third channel coupling the superior surface of the cage to the inferior surface of the cage; a curved first anchor configured to slide within the first channel; a curved second anchor configured to slide within the second channel; and a threaded projection extending outwardly from the lateral wall; a washer non-threadingly attached to the threaded projection; a cam non-threadingly attached to the threaded projection and directly contacting the washer; a nut threadingly attached to the threaded projection and directly contacting the cam.

The present invention provides a plasticized dehydrated or freeze-dried bone and/or soft tissue product that does not require special conditions of storage, for example refrigeration or freezing, exhibits materials properties that approximate those properties present in normal hydrated tissue, is not brittle, does not necessitate rehydration prior to clinical implantation and is not a potential source for disease transmission. The invention replaces water in the molecular structure of the bone or soft tissue matrix with one or more plasticizers allowing for dehydration of the tissue, yet not resulting in an increase in brittleness of the plasticized product, and resulting in compressive and/or tensile properties similar to those of normal hydrated bone. Replacement of the chemical plasticizers by water prior to implantation is not required and thus, the dehydrated bone or soft tissue plasticized product can be placed directly into an implant site without significant preparation in the operating room.

An implant device has an improved osteoinductive feature to enhance new bone formation. The implant device has a body structure having a superior or first surface and an inferior or second surface and one or more facet features. One or more exterior and interior side surfaces extend between the superior and inferior surfaces. The one or more facet features extend from the internal side surfaces. Each of the facet features is inclined off parallel relative to the exterior side surface or off perpendicular relative to the superior and inferior surfaces at an angle which provides a surface to facilitate laser modification along the facet feature when a laser beam is oriented at an angle generally perpendicular to the load bearing inferior or superior surface.

An implant operably coupleable to a bone of a patient may include at least one securing portion which may be configured to receive fastening members to operably couple the implant to the bone, a support structure which may be conformal to contours of the bone, a plurality of pillars which may extend from, and be formed integrally with, the support structure, and a plurality of abutments which may be disposed at the plurality of pillars. The plurality of abutments may be operably coupleable to a prosthesis.