New spine patents from the US and Europe

A surgical retractor in which an actuator slides one blade and a lock handle prevents it slipping back, used with a second blade assembly. The description refers to lateral transpsoas access to the spine.

Main claimPer the abstract (claims not read), covers a retractor with a sliding first blade driven by an actuator, a lock handle that blocks reverse movement, and a second blade assembly.

ContextLateral lumbar interbody fusion relies on stable retraction through the psoas.

An expandable interbody implant in which a screw-driven ramped carriage pushes the endplates apart while keeping an open graft channel between the vertebrae. Each endplate also accepts a bone screw, making it an integrated-fixation cage.

Main claimProtects an expandable implant whose endplates each carry a bone-fastener hole, with a frame-and-screw actuator for expansion plus an actuator plate and blocking ring that stop the fasteners backing out.

ContextStand-alone expandable cages combine height adjustment with integrated fixation to avoid supplemental plating.

A table-mountable spinal retractor whose blades snap into shaped seats that stop them sliding, turning or tilting unintentionally. The description includes cervical exposures for disc removal or replacement.

Main claimProtects a retractor with a rack-and-pinion frame carrying two independently moving cabins, each arm holding a blade seat with an hourglass receptacle, latch, release and angulation knob.

ContextRetractor stability and blade control remain practical concerns in anterior cervical and other spinal exposures.

A curved interbody implant whose upper and lower parts are spread apart by a screw mechanism once in the disc space. A deployment tool locks to the implant, can pivot relative to it and drives the expansion.

Main claimPer the abstract (claims not read), covers a curved implant expanded by a screw mechanism and a deployment tool that locks to, pivots on and actuates the implant.

ContextCurved expandable cages are designed to sit across the anterior disc space through a posterior or transforaminal approach.

An expandable interbody implant whose upper and lower halves each consist of a base onto which different endplates can be attached, joined by a control assembly that drives expansion. Modular endplates allow footprint or angle to be chosen without changing the core mechanism.

Main claimProtects an expandable implant with upper and lower assemblies of a base plus selectively attachable endplates, with aligned graft windows in base and endplate, and a control assembly governing their relative movement.

ContextModularity is one way to reduce the inventory burden of expandable cage systems.

An automated system in which one robot arm feeds and rotates a spinal rod while a second arm bends it between mandrels, the two moving in sync to produce a patient-specific contour. It is designed to work with a multi-arm surgical robot.

Main claimProtects a multi-arm surgical robot with a powered rod-holding end effector (feed and rotation rollers) on one arm and a powered mandrel bending end effector on the other, operating in synchronisation.

ContextAutomated, plan-based rod contouring is aimed at reproducing planned alignment more precisely than hand bending.

An intraoperative neuromonitoring method that ramps stimulation current to find the lowest level evoking a muscle response, then slows the pulse rate and confirms with a second pulse. It is intended for use during spinal procedures such as pedicle screw placement and lateral access.

Main claimProtects a stimulation system that, once a pulse evokes a response, delivers a confirming pulse at equal or lower frequency and equal or higher current and records the first current as the threshold if both respond.

ContextTriggered EMG thresholds are routinely used to check screw position and nerve proximity; this is surgical neuromonitoring, not neuromodulation.

A system that tracks a mobile C-arm to stitch calibrated long single or stereo radiographs of the patient on the table, with measurement grids and parallax correction. Live images can be overlaid on pre-operative images or the surgical plan to check sagittal and coronal alignment during surgery.

Main claimPer the abstract (claims not read), covers tracking a mobile X-ray device to build calibrated long views on estimated anatomical planes and mapping new images onto those planes.

ContextIntraoperative assessment of global alignment is a recurring theme in deformity surgery, where standing films are unavailable on the table.

An implantable growing rod with a housing, a fixed rod and an extendable rod driven out along the same axis by an internal gear drive, so the construct can be lengthened as a child grows. It is aimed at scoliosis in children and adolescents.

Main claimPer the abstract (claims not read), covers a growing rod assembly with a housing, a fixed rod, an expansion rod movable along the same axis and a driver assembly fixed to the housing that advances it.

ContextGrowth-friendly systems for early-onset scoliosis remain an active area following MAGEC supply and safety issues.

A screw extension tower that clips onto a pedicle screw tulip and carries a threaded driver to push the rod down into the screw head. The tower carries tracking markers so its position can be shown on the navigation display.

Main claimProtects a rod-reduction system combining a tulip-gripping screw tower, a threaded driver and housing for reduction, and a camera-based tracking system that displays the tower relative to the patient's images.

ContextCombining reduction instruments with navigation fits the wider move to navigated and robotic posterior fixation.

Software for a multi-axis surgical robot that lets the surgeon draw a tool path over images of the spine, for tasks such as bone and disc removal and hardware insertion. The system checks the path against the selected tool's dimensions.

Main claimProtects a robotic system in which the user selects a tool and draws a proposed path on the displayed image, and the computer warns if that path would make the tool interfere with the surgical site.

ContextSpine robots are moving from screw trajectory guidance towards robot-executed decompression and disc preparation.

An expandable anterior interbody spacer with ramped endplates and separate anterior and posterior actuators, which can be driven together or individually to set height and lordotic angle. It is described for the lumbosacral spine.

Main claimClaims a method of placing an implant with ramped endplates, sliding-pivoting actuators and a screw drive between adjacent bones and rotating the actuator to spread the endplates.

ContextExpandable ALIF devices aim to restore segmental lordosis through a smaller insertion profile.

An optical navigation method with a camera fixed relative to the surgical site and the operated body part restrained on the table, tracking instruments fitted with marker arrays. The description uses pedicle screw placement in the lumbar and thoracic spine as examples.

Main claim (pending, not yet granted)Claims a method showing instrument alignment in which the planned trajectory is drawn as a flat disc and the tracked guide as a 3D cylinder, alignment being reached when the cylinder sits within the disc's central circle.

ContextPending application; a published application does not mean a patent will be granted in this form.

A compact pedicle screw whose two-part head is joined sideways to a plate-like connector rather than a conventional rod, aimed at a near-zero-profile construct. A locking mechanism clamps the head halves together so the screw can no longer swivel or slide along the connector.

Main claimProtects a pedicle screw with an upper and lower head body, a transverse connector made of two parallel plates either side of the head, and a lock that fixes the bodies together via prongs engaging grooves in the plates.

ContextLow-profile posterior fixation is of particular interest in thin patients and in the paediatric and cervicothoracic spine.

A sacroiliac fusion implant made of a threaded screw with cutting flutes that collect bone shavings, carried inside a sleeve that turns freely on the screw. The flutes are intended to retain harvested bone at the joint.

Main claimProtects an SI joint fusion implant comprising a fluted, threaded screw and a sleeve coupled by matching engagement geometries that keep them axially joined while letting the sleeve rotate freely.

ContextSI joint fusion is a growing market with screw-type, triangular and allograft implants competing.

An expandable lateral interbody device whose anterior and posterior edges can be raised or lowered separately, allowing both height and lordosis to be set in situ. Openings in the trailing end give tool access to the actuators and allow graft to be added after expansion.

Main claimProtects a lateral expandable fusion device with two endplates, sliding anterior and posterior translation bars, pivoting joists and a separate actuator for each side that tilts the endplate front or back.

ContextAdjustable-lordosis expandable cages are among the most heavily patented spine device categories.

A plating system for anterior fusion in which small retainer plates sit on a base plate and are screwed into the disc spacer, tying plate and cage together. The description focuses on cervical fusion.

Main claimClaims a method of inserting a spacer into the disc space, placing a base plate with a bridge over it, driving fasteners through a retainer plate into the spacer so it pivots on the bridge, then fixing the base plate to the vertebral bodies.

ContextIntegrating the plate with the cage is one route to lower-profile anterior cervical constructs.

A central ramp pushes two endplates apart once the device sits between the spinous processes. Each plate carries fixed or adjustable spikes that bite into the processes, to stabilise the segment and support fusion.

Main claimA central ramp and a driving ramp sit between the two endplates; moving them towards each other spreads the endplates apart, while retaining elements hold the sliding spinous-process plates.

ContextSpinous process plates are an established option for supplemental posterior fixation. The new element here is expansion in situ, so the device can go in collapsed.

An interbody cage anchored by curved bone pins. A hollow guide tool drives the pins through seats in a connector plate, where they pivot into the vertebral bodies.

Main claimCurved bone pins turn within seats in a connector plate so that their tips splay outwards, away from the plate’s axis, into the bone.

ContextMost stand-alone cages anchor with screws or blades. Curved pins placed through one front-facing tool are a less common route. The title and abstract emphasise different things, so the claims decide what is protected.

A printed metal vertebral body replacement for the cervical spine. A random (stochastic) lattice fills the body to lower stiffness and improve radiolucency, and porous lattice endplates are meant for bone ingrowth.

Main claimA cervical corpectomy cage built from six separate lattice regions (front, back, both sides and both endplates) around a hollow vertical channel, with anti-migration features on both endplates.

ContextPrinted titanium corpectomy cages are already sold by several companies. The stated aims here are lower stiffness and better post-operative imaging.

A cage frame surrounds a porous core whose upper and lower faces lie open to the vertebral endplates. The drawing also shows separate endplate frames that clip to the cage.

Main claimA single-piece porous structure with an internal cavity connected to pores on both endplate-facing surfaces, so graft material spreads through the pores while the structure stays compressible.

ContextSolid frames around porous cores are a crowded design space. Interest lies in how the frame and porous structure are joined.

Filed under the title “Systems and methods for correcting spinal deformities”, but the first claim covers a polyaxial screw. A collar inside the tulip, with two opposed convex outer faces, couples the screw head to the receiver.

Main claimThe collar between screw head and receiver has two opposed convex faces joined by two flat facets, giving a non-round collar that seats against a rounded feature of the receiver.

ContextPolyaxial pedicle screws are a mature field, so any novelty sits in the collar geometry. The broad title says little about what the claims protect.

A screw-and-housing assembly in which a second bore in the lower part of the housing engages the screw to limit how far it can angle.

Main claimThe housing’s second bore is a rounded square, with a chamfer and curved bevels around it; this shape is what governs how far the screw can angle.

ContextScrews that restrict angulation sit between monoaxial and fully polyaxial designs. This is one more mechanical way of setting that limit.

A flexible band loops around a bony element such as the lamina, passes through a housing that clamps onto the rod, and is locked with a set screw.

Main claimA method: loop and tension the band around the bone, then lock both the rod and the band in the housing with one set screw, through passages that run parallel.

ContextSublaminar band systems are established in deformity surgery, often as an alternative to hooks or screws at difficult levels.

Two arms each lock onto a bone screw in a different vertebra through a ball-type joint. A linkage engages both joints at once, so the two vertebrae can be moved relative to each other.

Main claimA ball-and-socket link between two screw-mounted arms, in which the socket slides within a frame from a free position to a locked one, fixing the two vertebrae relative to each other.

ContextMulti-level manipulation tools are common, especially for derotation in scoliosis. What this patent specifies is the ball-joint linkage between levels.

A trial instrument for sizing an implant that carries sensors: handle, shaft, a rotating head and an indicator showing its orientation. The drawing marks a maximum telemetry depth on the shaft.

Main claimThe trial carries a transmitter that sends a test signal, plus a gauge showing the threshold distance, so wireless read-out can be checked before the real implant goes in.

ContextInstruments for placing sensor-equipped implants are new territory. The depth marking suggests the trial also checks that the implant will sit close enough for wireless read-out.

Software takes the surgical images and the planned screw-tower positions, identifies soft tissue and bone, and calculates an entry point and path for passing the rod.

Main claimPlan the rod’s entry point and path from the images and tower positions, then monitor the robotic arm and recalculate the path whenever its actual position drifts beyond a set threshold.

ContextRobotic platforms already plan screw trajectories. Planning the rod pass itself, including the soft-tissue route, extends that to the next step.

The imaging system acquires overlapping views from several perspectives. The software then identifies anatomical features automatically and uses them for registration.

Main claimCombine candidate regions from several image views to locate a feature automatically, then label its position in two separate output views.

ContextAutomatic registration from intra-operative imaging is where navigation is heading. The co-assignment with Johns Hopkins points to an academic origin for the method.

Sensors built into the screw-rod construct take measurements after surgery. The system uses them to assess the construct and the levels next to it, and to predict problems such as adjacent-segment disease.

Main claim (pending, not yet granted)Combine sensor readings from the fused construct with readings from an implant at a different level to determine the patient’s condition.

ContextSensor-equipped spinal implants remain largely experimental.

An emitter sends sound waves into one end of a bone and a receiver picks them up at the other. A circuit compares the two signals to give an indication of bone quality. The first drawing shows an interbody implant.

Main claim (pending, not yet granted)An emitter at one end of a bone, a receiver at the other, and a circuit that compares the sent and received sound waves to indicate bone quality.

ContextUltrasound measurement of bone quality exists for screening at peripheral sites. Measuring it at the spine during surgery would be new.

Software that finds the vertebrae in intraoperative images and maps a preoperative implant plan onto them by treating planned screws as linked pairs of vectors. This lets the plan follow any shift in the anatomy without a separate registration step.

Main claimProtects a system that stores a preoperative plan of hardware positions, identifies the anatomical features in intraoperative images, converts planned hardware into vectors and superimposes fixed pairs of them on those features so the plan is updated for anatomical shift.

ContextRobotic spine platforms are competing to cut registration time and intraoperative radiation.

A spinal navigation system that builds a 3D model of the patient's spine split automatically into separate parts, and lets the surgeon choose which parts appear on a head-tracked 3D display. The aim is to declutter the view during planning and live navigation.

Main claimProtects a navigation system with segmented 3D spinal anatomy data, an image generator, tracking of the surgeon's head, the display and the patient, and a 3D display in which selected spinal sections can be shown while others are hidden.

ContextAugmented-reality headsets and automatic segmentation are converging in spine navigation.

A modular rod-receiving head that accepts two kinds of screw shank: one is restricted to swivelling in a single plane, the other can angle freely. Matching recesses in the pressure member and receiving part provide the restriction, so one tulip design serves both uses in spinal surgery.

Main claimProtects a coupling device with a receiving part and pressure member that clamps an inserted screw head, characterised by aligned recesses in the pressure member and receiving part that engage a feature on one anchor type so it pivots in only one plane, while another anchor type pivots in several planes.

ContextUniplanar screws are widely used in deformity correction; modular systems reduce implant inventory.

A guide with radiopaque alignment features is used to place separate working and viewing incisions on one side of the lumbar spine, with matching scalpels and depth guides. The portals are then used to create a working space and insert an interbody fusion implant under endoscopic vision.

Main claim (pending, not yet granted)Per the international (WO 2025/137380) text, covers a multi-portal spinal method and kit in which a marking guide aligns the incisions and access instruments fit the guide to form the portals.

ContextEuropean phase of WO 2025/137380; the approach resembles unilateral biportal endoscopy (UBE), although the document does not use that term.

An instrument carrying a navigation tracker clips magnetically into the guide tube of a surgical robot. The robot moves it through several poses and compares camera tracking with its own joint data to register the robot to the navigation system; the main worked example is spinal screw placement.

Main claim (pending, not yet granted)Per the international (WO 2025/137225) text, covers an instrument that couples magnetically to a robot-held guide tube and carries a tracker, and a system that registers manipulator and localiser coordinates by moving it through multiple poses.

ContextEuropean phase of WO 2025/137225; the document states it is not limited to the vertebrae.

A spinal implant made of a post with a receiver and a connector whose base has an angled transverse passage, allowing a rod or second element to be attached at an angle. Mating surfaces and stops fix the connector on the post.

Main claimProtects an implant with a post carrying a receiver with a mating surface and stop, and a connector whose base mates with it and has a transverse passageway angled to both the connector and post axes.

ContextAngled connectors help join constructs across junctions such as the cervicothoracic or lumbopelvic region.

A vertebral body replacement made of a mesh cage held between angled endplates that carry anti-migration spikes and an anterior flange for bone screws. It is aimed at reconstruction after removal of one or more vertebrae, for example for tumour.

Main claimProtects an implant of a cage and two endplates, each with an inclined bone-contacting face, anti-migration features, a hollow cage holder with fusion aperture and an anterior plate with a bone screw hole.

ContextCorpectomy reconstruction with mesh cages is common in tumour and trauma surgery; integrated screw fixation reduces reliance on supplemental plating.

An implant whose proximal and distal wings fold out from the body when a central screw is turned, anchoring it between bony structures for fusion. It builds on the company's earlier interspinous process and fusion spacer designs.

Main claimProtects an implant with an outer body, an inner body with ramps, pivoting proximal and distal wings, and a threaded screw whose actuation swings both sets of wings from closed to deployed.

ContextSpinal Simplicity markets minimally invasive interspinous and SI joint fusion implants.

A tulip (receiving part) for a pedicle screw whose legs carry both a circumferential groove and closed recesses, so that two different kinds of instruments can grip it. It is intended for spinal surgery.

Main claimProtects a U-shaped receiving part with, on at least one leg, an outer circumferential groove and a separate recess closed at both ends, each bounded by upper and lower surfaces for instrument engagement.

ContextInstrument-compatibility features on screw heads matter for MIS towers, reducers and navigation adapters.

A flat template carrying two-dimensional views of an implant with see-through regions, so implant size and position can be checked against images or anatomy. Embodiments include spinal plates, disc implants and pedicle screws.

Main claim (pending, not yet granted)Per the international (WO 2025/125245) abstract, covers a flat carrier with front and back sides showing at least one 2D implant view and having at least one transparent region.

ContextEuropean phase of WO 2025/125245; physical templating remains common alongside digital planning.

A rod-fixing bone screw in which the sliding and clamping surfaces of the shaft end, head and set screw have a specified roughness. This is meant to stop the parts slipping or breaking at junctions between different materials.

Main claim (pending, not yet granted)Seeks protection for a screw with a head and rod-fixing member in which at least one of the shaft end, the head's sliding surface or the fixing member has a roughness (Ra) of 0.4-1.7 µm.

ContextJapanese applicants; manufacturing-level refinements to tulip-head screws are increasingly patented.

A navigation system using a 3D reference marker attached to the patient's anatomy during preoperative imaging, so the images can be registered and the anatomy tracked during surgery. It is described for correction of spinal disorders.

Main claimProtects a spinal implant system with stored instructions, a patient-mounted 3D reference marker, a tracking sensor and processor, in which the anatomy is imaged preoperatively with the marker attached for registration.

ContextRegistration workflow is a key determinant of accuracy and radiation use in navigated spine surgery.

A bone screw with a discontinuous thread and cutting struts that channel removed bone into internal cavities, with a lattice section near the tip. The design is meant to gather autologous bone and encourage fixation.

Main claimProtects a bone screw whose shaft has a discontinuous thread, cavities and circumferential cutting struts that direct removed tissue into those cavities, with a lattice next to the struts.

ContextAdditively manufactured, porous or lattice screw designs are an emerging approach to improving fixation in poor bone.

A system in which a laser passed through a cannulated screw and driver both removes disc or cartilage tissue without ablating bone and sends interrogating pulses to map the target region. It sits within NuVasive's robotic surgery work.

Main claimProtects an apparatus combining a laser emitting tissue-affecting pulses and interrogating pulses, a light detector for topographic analysis, and a cannulated screw and driver through which the laser extends.

ContextNuVasive is now part of Globus Medical; laser-based disc preparation remains largely experimental.

An intersomatic cage with a central through-cavity in which a support plate is mounted to anchor the cage to one or both vertebrae. The aim is integrated fixation without a separate plate.

Main claimProtects a solid cage with two parallel bearing faces and a through-cavity perpendicular to them, plus securing means comprising at least one support plate mounted in that cavity.

ContextGranted on a French-language filing; the same applicant also published a related blade-cage application (EP 4817562 A1) this month.

A vertebral plate, mainly for the cervical spine, with grooved bending zones so the surgeon can adjust its longitudinal curvature intraoperatively with a dedicated bending tool. The patent covers the plate and the plate-plus-tool system.

Main claimProtects a screw-fixed vertebral plate with at least one plastically deformable bending portion carrying a transverse tool-receiving groove for adjusting its curvature during surgery.

ContextGranted on a German-language filing; contouring anterior plates to lordosis is routine but usually done with generic benders.

A fixation concept in which devices anchored to successive vertebrae are linked by connectors that stay pliable while the vertebrae are positioned and are then made rigid to lock the correction. The background focuses on scoliosis surgery.

Main claim (pending, not yet granted)Per the international (WO 2025/120634) text, covers fixation devices on adjacent vertebrae joined by connectors that switch from flexible during positioning to rigid for fixation.

ContextEuropean phase of WO 2025/120634; an alternative to contouring a rigid rod in deformity correction.

A polyaxial screw designed to serve a wide range of spinal procedures with one implant, with features to ease shank insertion, instrument attachment and rod reduction. The aim is fewer screw variants and lower manufacturing burden.

Main claim (pending, not yet granted)Seeks protection for a polyaxial bone anchor whose U-shaped receiver arms have proximal ends lying on a common circular circumferential path.

ContextDivisional of an earlier DePuy Synthes filing; platform screws that cover open, MIS and deformity use are an industry trend.

A sacroiliac fusion implant of a self-tapping, self-harvesting screw coupled to a cylindrical sleeve with anti-rotation features on its outer surface. Bone shavings produced on insertion are retained to aid fusion.

Main claimProtects an SI joint implant comprising a self-tapping screw with self-harvesting cutting geometry and a cylindrical sleeve with external anti-rotation geometry and internal screw-engagement geometry.

ContextEuropean counterpart of the US SI screw patent granted to Life Spine on 4 August 2026.

An expandable interbody implant with main upper and lower supports plus rotatably coupled pivoting supports, moved by a control assembly with separate control members. This allows height and angle to be adjusted after insertion.

Main claimProtects an expandable implant with upper and lower main supports, upper and lower pivoting supports rotatably coupled to them, and a control assembly with first and second control members governing their movement.

ContextEuropean counterpart in Life Spine's expandable-cage family; a related US modular-endplate patent issued in August.

A driver for set screws in reduction-type pedicle screws, with a sliding sleeve that braces the screw head walls so they do not splay while the set screw is tightened. A friction fit holds the set screw on the tip.

Main claimProtects a set screw reducer with a shank tip fitting the set screw socket and a sleeve sliding on the shank that prevents receiver sidewall splay during torque transfer, plus a frictional retention structure.

ContextTulip splay during final tightening is a known cause of construct failure, especially when reducing rods.

A rack-and-pinion compressor-distractor whose two towers attach to screws and can accommodate pedicles at different heights or offsets. A ratchet and pawl hold the position while the segment is adjusted.

Main claimProtects a system with a splined rack arm, a sliding body with geared actuator and ratchet pawl, and two connection towers mounted transversely on the rack and sliding body.

ContextSegmental distraction and compression through screw towers is standard in MIS TLIF and deformity work.

A modular polyaxial screw whose receiving part has threaded side holes for insertable restriction elements that limit or shape the head's angulation. One screw platform can thus be adapted to different clinical needs.

Main claimProtects a rod-coupling bone anchor whose receiving part has at least one internally threaded transverse hole accepting an externally threaded restriction element, together with a pressure element acting on the head.

ContextBiedermann (Donaueschingen) designs many of the polyaxial screw heads licensed across the industry.

Small engineered granules (about 1 to 10 mm) of bone, metal, ceramic or polymer that interlock to fill bone voids and support ingrowth while resisting migration. Kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty are named as example uses.

Main claim (pending, not yet granted)Per the international (WO 2025/117313) claims, protects a granule of 1-10 mm whose body has struts, a truss, shell, lobes or a roughened surface allowing it to interlock with neighbours and support bone ingrowth.

ContextEuropean phase of WO 2025/117313; the claims are not limited to the spine.

A vertebral retractor built around two threaded distraction pins held by arms that an adjuster assembly moves apart or together. It is intended to hold the vertebrae apart during disc-space work.

Main claim (pending, not yet granted)Seeks protection for a retractor with two threaded-tip distraction pins, an arm securing each pin and an adjuster assembly that changes the arms' relative position.

ContextCaspar-type pin distraction is standard in anterior cervical surgery; this is a variant from an instrument maker known for implant-removal tools.

A curved-blade anchor with a spherical head that fixes an expandable interbody device to the adjacent vertebrae. A single impactor engages the head with a quarter-turn connection and can drive anchors straight or angled, including under navigation.

Main claim (pending, not yet granted)Seeks protection for an anchor whose spherical head has a non-threaded vertical slot opening into an internal spherical pocket, with a raised bump beneath the slot to thicken the wall.

ContextBlade-type anchors are a common way to give stand-alone cages integrated fixation without screws.

An intersomatic cage carrying a blade on a rotating shaft that swings out of the cage to grip a vertebra. A small deformed lug on the blade tip snaps over the cage wall to hold the blade in its deployed position.

Main claim (pending, not yet granted)Seeks protection for a disc-shaped cage with a blade mounted off-centre on a rotating shaft so that it moves from fully inside the cage profile to protruding into the vertebra.

ContextFiled in French by an independent French inventor; one of several deployable-blade stand-alone cage concepts.

A navigation workflow that builds a virtual model of a spinal cage by touching its tip and end with a tracked pointer and laying the pointer shaft along its sides, while the cage sits on a tracked holder. This lets the cage be shown accurately on navigation without breaking sterility.

Main claim (pending, not yet granted)Seeks protection for a cage calibration system that records the cage tip and end points with the pointer tip and at least one side axis with the pointer shaft, then computes a calibrated virtual cage model.

ContextDivisional of an earlier Brainlab application; navigated cage placement extends navigation beyond pedicle screws.

An extractor for removing an interbody cage, in which a threaded adjuster drives a shaft that closes a pair of jaws onto the implant. It is aimed at controlled cage removal instead of free-hand pliers.

Main claim (pending, not yet granted)Per the abstract (claims not read), covers a housing, a shaft with a threaded end moving within it, jaws on the shaft tip and a threaded adjuster that moves the shaft and jaws between positions.

ContextRevision surgery for failed or migrated cages relies on dedicated removal instruments.

A polyaxial-style screw whose head can only swing in one plane. A pressure element grips the head from the side and the top, and a ridge inside the receiving part limits the movement.

Main claim (pending, not yet granted)A protrusion on the inner wall of the receiving part bears on a matching surface of the screw head, restricting pivoting to a single plane.

ContextUniplanar screws are widely used in deformity correction for derotation. Novelty here lies in the mechanism, not the concept.

A tulip that can be attached to a screw head after the screw is placed. The head enters through an opening at the bottom, and a retainer ring completes the seat around it.

Main claim (pending, not yet granted)The receiving part and a separate retainer element each provide part of the seat, and together they form a socket in which the head can pivot.

ContextBottom-loading tulips let the surgeon place screw shanks first. Several companies sell modular systems of this kind.

A spring-loaded catch in the screw’s connector body snaps into a slot on the internal crown, holding the crown in place along the screw’s axis.

Main claim (pending, not yet granted)A biasing member sits in a bore of the connector body. When released it pushes into the central opening and engages the crown’s slot, so the crown cannot move up or down.

ContextFiled on the same day and by the same lead inventor as the adjustable screw below; the two share their drawings.

A polyaxial screw whose head sits in an off-centre (eccentric) base connector inside the tulip.

Main claim (pending, not yet granted)An eccentric base connector in the bottom of the connector body has an off-centre opening for the screw head and a second opening for the crown.

ContextPlacing the head off-centre changes where the screw can angle. Favoured-angle screws exist; this is a different way of achieving that.

A screw made without metal: a PEEK core wrapped in a carbon-fibre layer that also forms the thread.

Main claim (pending, not yet granted)A PEEK core at least partly encapsulated by a carbon-fibre reinforcement layer; a dependent claim adds that the layer forms the outer thread of a spinal screw.

ContextCarbon-fibre/PEEK implants are used mainly in spinal oncology, where they reduce imaging artefacts and help radiotherapy planning.

A rod built from fibre layers laminated around its axis, marked to show where the screw clamps should grip.

Main claim (pending, not yet granted)The markings indicate clamping points where the clamping force runs across the fibre layers rather than along them, so the clamp does not split the laminate.

ContextGloberide’s core business is carbon-fibre fishing rods, so this is an unusual entrant applying composite know-how to spinal rods.

A screw threaded at both ends with a smooth shaft of constant diameter between them, offered as a kit with a connector to the rod.

Main claim (pending, not yet granted)Both threaded ends have the same thread pitch, with an unthreaded section of constant diameter between them.

ContextAn application from an individual inventor, which is rare in this field. How the screw is meant to be placed is set out in the description.

An intervertebral cage that expands in height. Wedges riding on inclined ramps push the two plates apart in two stages when a drive shaft is turned.

Main claim (pending, not yet granted)An expansion wedge made of two members, each coupled to one plate, with a drive shaft passing through bores in both.

ContextThis is a divisional of a family first filed in 2017, so the technology itself is not new; it is a fresh set of claims on an older invention.

A telescoping vertebral body replacement: an inner column threads out of an outer column, driven by an expansion ring, with modular endplates.

Main claim (pending, not yet granted)The endplates are held to the columns by captive set screws that cannot fall out, so endplates can be exchanged.

ContextExpandable corpectomy cages are well established. The claim focuses on how modular endplates attach.

An open truss implant whose struts are partly made of a piezoelectric hydroxyapatite composite, which produces small electrical charges under load.

Main claim (pending, not yet granted)A web of struts joined at nodes, some struts formed at least partly of a piezoelectric hydroxyapatite composite.

ContextElectrical stimulation of bone healing is a long-standing idea. Building it into the implant material is the new angle. This is a divisional of a 2019 family.

A guide fixed to the implant surface steers bone anchors through the implant body into the adjacent bone, turning a truss cage into a stand-alone device.

Main claim (pending, not yet granted)A guide body on the implant defines anchor pathways; anchors pass through part of the implant body to enter the bone.

ContextIntegrated fixation for stand-alone cages is common. This adapts it to an open truss structure.

A cannulated, threaded implant for fusing the sacroiliac joint, with an insertion instrument.

Main claim (pending, not yet granted)A central section where a porous lattice lies between the solid core around the cannula and the external thread. Espacenet shows the claims of the international version, as the European claims are not yet available.

ContextThreaded and triangular SI-joint implants compete in a growing market; a lattice section aims at ingrowth.

Software takes the patient’s spine imaging and a stiffness measurement, plans the correction, and drives a device that forms a patient-specific rod during surgery.

Main claim (pending, not yet granted)A system that derives spinopelvic parameters from imaging of the patient’s spine and uses them to form the rod automatically during the operation.

ContextPre-bent patient-specific rods are made in factories today. Forming them in the operating room shortens the loop between plan and implant.

Software builds a finite-element model of the implant system acting on the patient’s spine and keeps updating it from signals the instruments send during surgery.

Main claim (pending, not yet granted)A generation module builds the finite-element model, a reception module repeatedly receives signals from the surgical system, and an adaptation module updates the model from them.

ContextPatient-specific simulation is usually done before surgery. Feeding it live data from the instruments is the step this application claims.

A computer method that designs an implant to fit the patient’s bone surfaces and then optimises its internal structure for strength and for manufacture.

Main claim (pending, not yet granted)A computer-implemented method that defines the bone surfaces in a patient-specific model of the implant site and generates an implant model fitted to them and structurally optimised for its manufacturing method.

ContextA Swiss–Danish academic and clinical collaboration; the drawing shows an interbody implant between two vertebrae.