minSURG International has reported that USPTO will issue US Patent No. 7,708,761, entitled 'Spinal Plug for a Minimally Invasive Facet Joint Fusion System,' which provides the company patent protection for the TruFUSE procedure, on May 4th, 2010.
minSURG said that the TruFUSE procedure is a minimally invasive spinal surgical solution that addresses symptomatic back pain resulting from facet joint disease and mild spinal instability, typically resulting in severe back pain. TruFUSE can be used either as a stand-alone procedure or as an adjunct to augment other fusion techniques and motion limiting products.
minSURG also said that the claims of the TruFUSE patent are numerous among them the important ones include placing a portal into a human patient through a minimally invasive incision to access the facet joints and the other drilling a hole between the facet joints and then inserting and tamping a facet joint fusion plug into the facet joints.
David Petersen, founder of minSURG International, said: “Today is an exciting day for everyone that has worked so hard to make the TruFUSE procedure a true success for patients around the country.”