TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to medical devices for the treatment of bone disorders, and more particularly to devices and methods for treating spinal disorders, such as, for example, vertebral compression fractures.

BACKGROUND

Height loss is commonly associated with spinal fractures, such as, for example, vertebral compression fractures. Spinal fractures affect a large segment of osteoporotic patients. It is estimated that approximately 700,000 spinal fractures occur annually from osteoporosis, for example. Procedures have been developed to treat spinal fractures. One such procedure is kyphoplasty. Kyphoplasty is a minimally invasive procedure that is used to treat spinal fractures, such as, for example, vertebral compression fractures by inserting one or more balloons, such as, for example, compliant balloons inside a fractured vertebral body. The balloon or balloons are inflated within the fractured vertebral body such that the cancellous bone of the vertebral body is pushed towards cortical walls of the vertebral body to form a cavity within the vertebral body. The cavity is then at least partially filled with a material, such as, for example, bone cement.

However, conventional spinal fracture treatment procedures lack a balloon that can be inflated to have a curved configuration when the balloon has a maximum volume and pressure necessary for a kyphoplasty procedure. Conventional balloons typically have very thick walls and are made of a compliant material. The wall thins out when the balloon is inflated. Since inflation of the balloon is symmetric, the wall will thin out uniformly, and the outer arch of the balloon, which is longer than an inner arch of the balloon, will be thinner than the inner arch when the balloon is inflated. Indeed, once inflation starts, the outer arch will start thinning out further than the inner arch, which will create a path of least resistance outward on the outer arch of the balloon. This will create an off-axis skewed kidney shape inflation. Such variation of the wall thickness of the balloon when the balloon is inflated makes the balloon ineffective for balloon kyphoplasty procedures that require a curved balloon. This disclosure describes improvements over these prior art technologies.

SUMMARY

New devices and methods are provided for the treatment of bone disorders, and more particularly devices and methods for treating spinal disorders, such as, for example, vertebral compression fractures. In some embodiments, a curved inflatable bone tamp includes an outer shaft defining a passageway. An inner shaft is positioned within the passageway. The inner shaft extends between opposite first and second end. The inner shaft defines a lumen. The inner shaft is curved between the first end and the second end. A first leg of a balloon is coupled to the outer shaft and a second leg of the balloon is coupled to the inner shaft such that a material can flow through the lumen and into the balloon to inflate the balloon. The balloon includes a wall having a variable thickness between the legs when the balloon is uninflated and a uniform thickness between the legs when the balloon is inflated.

Additional features and advantages of various embodiments will be set forth in part in the description that follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of various embodiments. The objectives and other advantages of various embodiments will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the description and appended claims.

