Patent ID: 7985246

Claim:
A method of implanting an interspinous process spacer comprising: deforming an interspinous spacer having first and second pairs of resiliently deformable arms extending from a central section; the deforming comprising moving the first pair of arms toward each other from an extended configuration to a collapsed configuration; after the deforming, advancing the spacer in a guide tube with the first pair of arms in the collapsed configuration such that first pair of arms is constrained only by the guide tube; positioning the guide tube such that a distal portion thereof is disposed proximate a pair of adjacent spinous processes; and thereafter, pushing the spacer distally through the guide tube such that the first pair of arms and central section exits the distal portion of the guide tube; the first pair of arms exiting the guide tube prior to the central section; the first pair of arms assuming the extended configuration after the exiting such that the first pair arms resiliently move away from each other and move toward the second pair of arms, and wherein the first pair of arms are disposed on a common lateral side of the spinous processes.