Patent ID: 8016886

Claim:
An intervertebral disc replacement device, comprising: a first member operable to engage an endplate of a vertebral bone of a spine, the first member having top and bottom surfaces along various portions thereof, the top and bottom surfaces defining a thickness therebetween; a second member spaced apart from the first member and operable to engage an endplate of an adjacent vertebral bone of the spine; a connecting element located substantially between and connecting the first and second members; and the first member having at least one slot extending through at least one of the various portions thereof through the thickness and top and bottom surfaces, creating first and second portions of the first member, wherein the at least one slot imparts transverse compressibility and expandability from at least an implanted position to the intervertebral disc replacement device along a direction normal to a plane parallel to the first and second members through substantially divergent displacement of the first and second portions of the first member with respect to one another at the at least one slot in response to movement of respective vertebral bones.