Patent ID: 8894708

Claim:
A spinal implant comprising: 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; and one or more apertures within the posterior portion of the body for receiving at least one fixation element, wherein at least one of the apertures is configured to permit a predetermined amount of nutation by a fixation element.