Cervical artificial disc replacement: still experimental? Introduction and perspectives on cervical artificial disc replacement

摘要

Fernstrom spherical endoprostheses, utilized in the 1960s, may have been the first artificial discs implanted in humans. These were non-articulating, ball-bearinglike devices that replaced discs and preserved motion. In 1966, Fernstrom reported the use of these devices in the cervical, as well as the lumbar spine1 (Fig. 1).