Examination of a Low-Profile Spinal Implant

Most spine implant devices are fabricated outside Japan, and therefore do not always fit the bodies of Japanese people. This causes a quality-of-life (QOL) problem in which patients feel the embedded implant devices on their back. The aim of this study was to develop more compact and lower-profile spine implant devices. Three types of devices with different heights and different screw threads were created, and the removal torque (fitting force) of the devices was measured after a static load test and cyclic load test. In addition, the screw thread surface was observed in detail after the tests. The results indicated that the mechanism of the reduction in the fitting force was related to partial contact due to abrasion or plastic deformation of the screw thread surface and decrease in the contact area between the screw threads caused by the increased diameter of the upper opening of the implant device after tightening. Therefore, we concluded that lowering the height of the implant device, securing the number of the screw threads, and securing the contact area of the threads are important in developing a low-profile spine implant.