A stent, or device for repair and reconstruction of the spinal disc wall,
or annulus fibrosus, after surgical incision or pathologic rupture, which
is inserted through an aperture into the subannular space. The stent has
radial extensions which are caused or allowed to expand into an expanded
configuration to bridge the aperture. The stent thereby occludes the
defective region from the inside of the vertebral disc and prevents the
migration of nucleus pulposus therethrough, while also providing a
scaffold for tissue growth.
