Patent ID: 8425520

Claim:
A laminoplasty system comprising: a set of bone plates, a plurality of the bone plates of the set of bone plates including a first plate segment, a second plate segment, and a central plate segment interposed between the first plate segment and the second plate segment, the first plate segment including a first hole for receiving a bone anchor, the second plate segment including a second hole for receiving a bone anchor, the central plate segment including a graft opening for receiving an anchor to connect to a bone graft, the first plate segment including a planar, distal first bone engaging surface, a proximal surface, and a first side wall and a second side wall connected by the distal first bone engaging surface and by the proximal surface, the second plate segment including a distal second bone engaging surface, the central plate segment including a distal third surface, the first bone engaging surface and the second bone engaging surface lying in separate approximately parallel planes and the distal third surface connecting the first bone engaging surface and the second bone engaging surface and lying in a plane that intersects the separate approximately parallel planes, and an instrument for holding one of the plurality of bone plates, the instrument comprising a first arm and a second arm connected to and adjustable relative to the first arm, the first arm having a proximal end and a distal end, the second arm having a proximal end and a distal end, the instrument having a first connection tip at the distal end of the first arm and a second connection tip at the distal end of the second arm, the first connection tip configured to connect to the first side wall of the first plate segment, the second connection tip configured to connect to the second side wall of the first plate segment, the instrument having a first stabilizing member connected to the first connection tip, the first stabilizing member being distally spaced apart from the first connection tip to form a first opening for receiving a portion of bone between the first connection tip and the first stabilizing member, the instrument having a second stabilizing member connected to the second connection tip, the second stabilizing member being distally spaced apart a distance from the second connection tip to form a second opening for receiving a portion of bone between the second connection tip and the stabilizing member.