| abstract |
An implant comprising several support bodies (7) made of an elastic plastic is provided to substitute a part, which is no longer capable of support, of the core region of an intervertebral disc (3). The support bodies (7) are successively introduced into a central cavity (5) formed in the core region using a probe (6) which penetrates the external annular region (4) of the intervertebral disc (3) until the cavity is full. During packing of the cavity (5) with the packing bodies (7) the latter rest against the delimiting walls of the annular region (4) and against one another, and they are elastically deformed on loading. Accordingly, this results in a universally applicable implant which can be adapted to cavities (5) having any shape and which forms a relatively compact, elastic support structure. <IMAGE> |