Patent ID: 7988693

Claim:
A chisel for preparing adjacent vertebrae for insertion of a spinal implant into the disc space defined by the vertebrae, the chisel comprising: a shank having a longitudinal axis and distal and proximal ends; and a bone cutting blade attached to the shank proximal end and having a cutting edge lying in a first plane for forming a channel in one of the vertebrae, the blade extending transverse to a second plane normal to the first plane, the second plane containing the longitudinal axis, wherein the cutting edge faces a proximal end of the chisel, wherein the cutting edge is non-linear in shape in a top plan view and has an apex in the top plan view, wherein the cutting edge has first and second cutting coplanar portions in the first plane, each first and second cutting coplanar portion tapering toward the proximal end of the chisel and wherein the proximal end of the shank has a hollow core facing the proximal end of the chisel, further including a chisel guide member movably attached to the shank for selectively extending from the core in a direction toward the proximal end of the chisel and retracting into the core in a direction toward a distal end of the chisel.