Warsaw Orthopedic, Inc.

Michael L Sutton

Jonathan M Dewey

Jerald Lamont Redmond

Embodiments of the present disclosure include in-situ formed or in-situ-manufactured expandable cages, expandable implants, and additive-manufacturing systems for printing spinal implants in-situ, and methods for printing the same. Some embodiments may include a robotic subsystem including scanning and imaging equipment configured to scan a patient's anatomy. Some embodiments may further include an armature having a dispensing component configured to dispense at least one printing material and a controller. The controller may be configured to control the scanning and imaging equipment to determine a target alignment of a patient's spine, and develop in-situ-forming instructions including an in-situ relocation plan. In some embodiments, the in-situ-forming instructions may be based on the target alignment of the patient's spine and an interbody access space which may only partially provide access to a disc space between adjacent vertebra of the patients spine. The controller may execute the in-situ-forming instructions to form an interbody cage.

In-situ additive expandable implants

An additive-manufacturing system for printing spinal implants in-situ, within a patient, is disclosed. The system may include a robotic subsystem having scanning and imaging equipment and an armature including at least one dispensing nozzle and a controller apparatus having a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The controller may control the scanning and imaging equipment to determine a target alignment of a patients spine, develop an in-situ-printing plan including an in-situ material selection plan based on the target alignment of the patients spine, an interbody access space, and a disc space between adjacent vertebra of the patients spine, and execute the in-situ-printing plan. The controller may further control the armature to dispense at least one material chosen from a rigid material and a pliable material to form at least one motion-sparing implant.

In-situ additive manufactured motion-sparing implants

A method for growing a channeled spinal implant in situ, using a surgical additive-manufacturing system having a dispensing component, and implants formed thereby. The method can include positioning the dispensing component at least partially within an interbody space, between a first patient vertebra and a second patient vertebra, and maneuvering, in an applying step, the dispensing component within the interbody space and depositing, by the dispensing component, printing material on or adjacent the first vertebra. The applying step includes maneuvering the dispensing component and applying the printing material selectively to form an outer surface of the implant having a channel opening and to form an interior of the implant having at least one elongate channel extending to the opening.

In-situ additive channeled implants

An in-situ additive-manufacturing system for growing an implant in-situ for a patient. The system has a multi-nozzle dispensing subsystem and a distal control arm. The multi-nozzle dispensing subsystem in one embodiment includes first and second dispensing nozzles. The first and second nozzles include first and second printing-material delivery channels, respectively. In another embodiment, the in-situ additive-manufacturing system includes a multi-material subsystem having a dispensing nozzle including first and second printing material delivery channels. Controlling computing and robotics componentry are provided. In various aspects, respective storage for first and second printing materials, and one or more pumping structures, are provided.

In-situ additive implants

Methods for growing spinal implants in situ using a surgical additive-manufacturing system. In one aspect, the method includes positioning a dispenser at least partially within an interbody space, between a first patient vertebra and a second patient vertebra. The method includes maneuvering the dispensing component within the space to deposit printing material forming an interbody implant part, positioning the dispensing component adjacent the vertebrae, and maneuvering the dispenser adjacent the vertebrae to deposit printing material on an exterior surface of each vertebrae and in contact with the interbody implant part forming an extrabody implant part connected to the interbody implant part and vertebrae, yielding the spinal implant grown in situ connecting the first vertebra to the second vertebra. The extrabody part can be printed around anchors affixed to the vertebrae, and the anchors may be printed in the process.

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Coldwater, MS, United States of America

Michael L Sutton