The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 07, 2011
Filed:
May. 23, 2006
Jeffrey D. Schwardt, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Andrea Leung, Milpitas, CA (US);
Richard W. Layne, Phoenix, AZ (US);
Jeffrey D. Schwardt, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Andrea Leung, Milpitas, CA (US);
Richard W. Layne, Phoenix, AZ (US);
Kyphon SARL, Neuchatel, CH;
Abstract
An apparatus includes an elongate body and an expandable member coupled to the elongate body. In one embodiment, the expandable member has a collapsed configuration, an unfolded configuration and an expanded configuration. The expandable member is configured to be percutaneously inserted into an interior portion of a bone structure when the expandable member is in the collapsed configuration. The expandable member is configured to exert a pressure in a vertical direction on a first portion of the bone structure in contact with the expandable member greater than a pressure exerted in a lateral direction on a second portion of the bone structure in contact with the expandable member when the expandable member transitions from the unfolded configuration to the expanded configuration.