ARTIFICIAL SPINAL DISC IMPLANT

摘要

An artificial spinal disc 100 that may be implanted between adjacent vertebrae in the spine to replace, repair or augment a natural spinal disc. The artificial spinal disc includes a polymeric body 102 and two end plates HOA, HOB formed of a material having a hardness of between 50 shore D and 100 shore D. The body includes a nucleus region 128 and an annulus region 130 wherein theYoung' s modulus of the material is varied across the annulus region. The annulus region may completely surround the nucleus region such that it separates the nucleus region from the outer surfaces of the body. The disc may have a bending stiffness between 0.5 Nm/degree and 5. ONm/degree.