ARTIFICIAL INTERVERTEBRAL DISC HAVING A DEFORMABLE WIRE MESH VERTEBRAL BODY CONTACT ELEMENT

摘要

An artificial disc having at least one plate 100 that has, as a vertebral body contact element a domed wire mesh 506a-b convexly extending from the plate. In preferred embodiments, the wire mesh is made of titanium and is laser-welded at its perimeter to the plate, and a porous coating 510a-b is provided underneath the wire mesh. The wire mesh is deformably reshapeable under anatomical loads so that it conformably deflects against a concave surface of a vertebral body endplate to securably engage the endplate.