iOrthopedics Inc. (iOI), Las Vegas, Nevada, is pleased to announce patent awards and allowances for its Universally Expanding Cage (UEC) giving exclusive rights in the spine expandable interbody arena. Validation is granted by the U.S. Patent Office (US9,861,494 and US9,999,515) with confirmed claims covering a device and method for independently altering the distance and angle between opposing vertebral endplates from the proximal end of the device. UEC patents issued in 2018 and earlier have the earliest known priority dates for any known expandable spine cage which expands distally, proximal or uniformly, controlled by an axially nested inserter.
Background
iOrthopedics Inc., Las Vegas, Nevada holds the patents on the above referenced UEC. These patents are the work of Dr. Robert T. Grotz, MD, Orthopedic Surgeon for 30 years who previously invented the AccuLIF® Cage (Selectively Expanding Cage, and Linearly Expanding Cage), acquired by Stryker in 2014.
US Patent Numbers US9,861,494, US9,622,878, US9,872,778, and US9,999,515 owned by iOrthopedics, Inc. cover the independent alteration of the distance and angle between two vertebral bone endplates as well as the device to do the same. In addition to the issued patents above, iOrthopedics, Inc. has filed a series of patent applications on its Universally Expanding Cage (UEC) that teach the first spine cage having a uniquely efficient proximal actuation capability allowing for independent expansion and contraction of both the distal and proximal ends of the cage, providing landmark spine implant adjustments aiding horizontal disc and longitudinal deformity corrections. UEC arthrodesis applies
cervical to lumbar, using novel internal mechanisms to expand rectangular, cylindrical or custom implants, using any surgeon selected insertion vector.
iOrthopedics, Inc. (iOI) is developing novel spine technology to aide correction of both horizontal disc space and longitudinal deformity. The Universally Expanding Cage (UEC) can change size during implantation, allowing surgeons to modify disc space fit for ideal apposition between vertebrae for each patient. UEC expands variably at either end of the implant device or overall, to correct spine pathologies. The UEC promotes cervical to lumbar fusion, improving vertebral deformity correction. Innovative expansion is controlled for minimally invasive surgery.