Appeal 2007-2608
Application 10/473,998
implanted, “the desired spatial relationship to the vertebral bodies is
achieved only if the anatomical conditions correspond to [ ] normal
conditions” (Spec. ¶ 2). Where anatomical conditions deviate from
the norm, “because of considerable curvature of the spinal column or
because of [other] high ventrodorsal forces acting between the
vertebrae” (id. at ¶ 6), the standard prosthesis “must be implanted so
as to deviate from the normal spatial relationship to the vertebral
body, which is difficult and risky” (id. at ¶ 2).
A “corrective” prosthesis, which compensates for abnormal
ventrodorsal forces acting between vertebrae, makes “implantation of
the prosthesis [ ] easier and safer for these cases” (id. at ¶ 3). “[T]he
corrective prosthesis . . . [has] at least one corrective cover plate
whose core-matching surface is offset ventrodorsally relative to the
contact surface by comparison with the standard prostheses” (id. at ¶
4), “ensur[ing] that the centre of articulation of a prosthesis relative to
the vertebral body on whose side the corrective cover plate is fitted is
offset ventrodorsally compared to the standard prostheses” (id. at ¶ 5).
Figure 1 of the Specification is an illustration of a “standard”
prosthesis, with a prosthesis core (3), a standard upper cover plate (2)
and a standard lower cover plate (1), both of the same “size category.”
Each cover plate has a contact surface (7), and a concave articulation
surface (4) that cooperates with a spherical articulation surface (5) on
the upper or lower surface of the core (jointly, an “articulation
surface”). In this configuration, a line drawn through the centers of the
two articulation surfaces would pass through the centers of the contact
3
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