A replacement for a removed
vertebral body, named after its German inventor. I got one of these this summer.
The body of one of my vertebrae had to be removed because it was mostly tumor. It was replaced with a cylindrical titanium mesh. In my case, during this process one of my ribs was removed and chipped. The chippings were inserted into the mesh so that new bone would grow around the cage, increasing its strength. I have been told that in other cases, bone from another donor is used instead.
In addition to the placement of the cage, the two vertebrae surrounding the one that was removed were fused together with a pair of titanium rods, which would provide support until the bone set.