Patent ID: 8603176

Claim:
An artificial intervertebral spacer, said spacer being adapted to fit within an intervertebral space between adjacent first and second vertebral bodies, each of said first and second vertebral bodies having a superior surface and an inferior surface, the intervertebral space being bounded by the inferior surface of the first vertebral body and the superior surface of the second vertebral body, the artificial intervertebral spacer comprising: resilient first and second arms each having first and second ends; the first and second arms being adapted for elastically biasing apart said adjacent vertebral bodies when said spacer is in use, wherein the first arm is adapted to bear against the inferior surface of the first vertebral body and the second arm is adapted to bear against the superior surface of the second vertebral body; the first ends of each of the arms being connected together; the second ends of each of the arms divergently extending in a common direction and being generally separated from each other; wherein the first arm extends in a single direction away from the first end towards the second end thereof; and, the first ends of each of the arms being joined together along a length thereof to form a third arm, wherein the third arm extends in a direction opposite from the second ends of the first and second arms whereby the spacer has a generally Y-shaped structure.