Patent ID: 8118847

Claim:
A spinal stabilization device, comprising: a vertebral plate, said plate defining at least two bone screw portals and having a plate top side and a plate underside, the underside being disposed in opposition to the anterior surface of vertebral bone when said system is implanted in a subject, said vertebral plate further defining a receiving slot, said receiving slot being in communication with said cam recess and said top side of said vertebral plate, wherein said locked position indicator is visible through said receiving slot when said plurality of flanges have been rotated into a locked position; a cam locking mechanism including a cam having a plurality of outwardly directed flanges, said flanges configured to directly engage locking contact points beneath the head of a bone screw disposed in one of said bone screw portals and lock in place said bone screw, said locking mechanism being embedded and rotatably attached within a cam recess defined in the underside of said vertebral plate, one of said plurality of flanges comprises an integrally formed upward extending projection that serves as a cam locked position indicator, wherein said cam is connected to a cam driver receptacle by an intermediately positioned cam operating shaft, said cam being rotatably positioned within said cam recess and said cam operating shaft being rotatably positioned within a cam shaft lumen, said cam shaft lumen being defined by said vertebral plate and providing a through passage from said cam recess in said plate underside to said top side of said vertebral plate, said cam being configured to selectively engage and lock in place bone screws when said bone screws are positioned within said bone screw portals and said cam has been rotated within said cam recess to a locked position.