Stent systems and methods for expanding and deploying stents in
hard tissue such as bone, more particularly within a
vertebral body. One exemplary method includes using a
stent body that is coupled to a high speed rotational motor with the
stent expandable and detachable from an introducer working end. In one embodiment, the
stent is a deformable
metal body with zig-zag type struts in an expanded configuration that carries
diamond cutting particles bonded to the strut surfaces. The “spin” stent is rotated at high rpm's to remove
cancellous bone from the deployment site together with
irrigation and aspiration at the end of the probe that carries the stent. The stent may be expanded asymmetrically, such as with first and second balloons or by using an interior restraint, to apply vertical
distraction forces to move apart the cortical endplates and support the
vertebra in the distracted condition. The
cancellous bone about the expanded stent as well as the interior of the stent can be filled with a
bone cement, allograft or other bone graft material. In one method of use, the spin stent is designed and adapted for (i) treating a
vertebral compression fracture (VCF) or for (ii) reinforcing an osteoporotic
vertebral body.