Patent ID: 8348981

Claim:
A bone plate for securing a spinal fixation element to bone, the bone plate comprising: a base portion having a top face; a rod receiving portion extending from the base portion, the rod receiving portion including a channel for receiving a spinal fixation element; and a bone anchor receiving portion comprising a plurality of raised projections, each raised projection projecting from the top face of the plate and forming a hole for receiving a bone anchor into the raised projection and through the base portion, each hole having a hole axis extending at an acute angle with respect to the top face, wherein the bone anchor receiving portion is characterized by an X-Y plane, a Y-Z plane and an X-Z plane, with at least one hole axis oriented at an acute angle with respect to the top face in a plane parallel to one of the X-Y plane, Y-Z plane and X-Z plane, and another hole axis oriented at an acute angle with respect to the top face in a plane parallel to another of the X-Y plane, Y-Z plane and X-Z plane.