17/129,237

Paragraph Number

64

The expandable intervertebral implant 100 and/or its constituent components may be manufactured using any known manufacturing method, including casting, forging, milling, additive manufacturing, and/or the like. As used herein, “additive manufacturing” refers to a manufacturing process in which materials are joined together in a process that repeatedly builds one layer on top of another to generate a three-dimensional structure or object. Additive manufacturing may also be referred to using different terms including: additive processes, additive fabrication, additive techniques, additive layer manufacturing, layer manufacturing, freeform fabrication, ASTM F2792 (American Society for Testing and Materials), and 3D printing. Additive manufacturing can build the three-dimensional structure or object using computer-controlled equipment that applies successive layers of the material(s) based on a three-dimensional model that may be defined using Computer Aided Design (CAD) software. Additive manufacturing can use a variety of materials including polymers, thermoplastics, metals, ceramics, biochemicals, and the like. Additive manufacturing may provide unique benefits, as the expandable intervertebral implant 100 together with the pores of the lattices 130/140 can be directly manufactured (without the need to generate molds, tool paths, perform any milling, and/or other manufacturing steps).

Added by DJM 2 2021