Patent ID: 9233010
Filing Date: 2016-01-12
CPC Classification: A61B,A61F

Claim Text:
1. A method of treating a patient's spine comprising: accessing at least a portion of a patient's spine via a lateral approach; inserting a spinal implant between vertebral bodies of the patient's spine via said lateral approach, wherein the spinal implant comprises a body having an upper surface, a lower surface, an anterior portion, a posterior portion, a pair of substantially planar sidewalls extending in parallel between the upper and lower surfaces, and a central opening extending therethrough between the upper and lower surfaces to facilitate bony ingrowth therethrough, the upper surface and lower surface being non-parallel such that one of the pair of sidewalls has a greater height than the other sidewall to form a wedge-shaped body configured for lateral insertion between vertebral bodies of a patient's spine, the anterior portion comprising a leading edge formed from panels extending from the upper and lower surfaces at an angle relative to one another and converging at a sharpened tip to allow concomitant distraction of soft tissue during insertion, the implant further including one or more apertures within the posterior portion of the body for receiving at least one fixation element; and attaching the spinal implant with the at least one fixation element to one of the vertebral bodies.