Patent ID: 8167913

Claim:
A stabilization system for implantation in a patient, comprising: a bone anchor including a head and a shaft, the shaft extending away from the head in a bone insertion direction and being operable for connection to a bone of the patient; and a tulip including: at least one channel defined by first and second substantially oppositely directed walls, the channel having an opening for receiving an elongate member, the opening being oriented in a receiving direction having at least a component thereof substantially opposite to the bone insertion direction of the anchor, a fastening mechanism operable to apply a tangential load on the elongate member to maintain the elongate member within the channel, wherein the tangential load is transverse to at least the receiving direction; a base including an anchor engagement element defined by a volume formed from an inner and an outer surface of the base to couple to the head of the anchor, such that the anchor engagement element and the head are of substantially complementary shape to permit articulation of the tulip about the head, the channel and the base are arranged such that a central, longitudinal axis of the base coincides with a central, longitudinal axis of the channel, wherein the fastening mechanism is operable to apply the tangential load on the elongate member such that both the elongate member is fixed with respect to the tulip and the tulip is fixed with respect to the anchor and the volume of the anchor engagement element is in communication with the channel such that a portion of the head extends into the channel.