Patent ID: 8007534

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: an expandable implant for use in the human body, said implant having a leading end, a trailing end, a length between said leading and trailing ends, moveable portions, an interior, and a mid-longitudinal axis extending along the length of said implant and passing through the center of said implant and said leading and trailing ends; and an expander for moving apart said moveable portions of said implant, said expander including: a front surface oriented toward said leading end in one direction along the mid-longitudinal axis, a rear surface oriented toward said trailing end in the opposite direction along the mid-longitudinal axis, an upper surface, a lower surface, and side surfaces, said side surfaces intersecting said upper and said lower surfaces at a pair of diametrically opposed corners and a pair of diametrically opposed arcs; a first distance measured across said front surface between said upper and lower surfaces, a second distance measured across said front surface between said side surfaces, and a third distance measured across said front surface between said opposed arcs, said first distance being greater than said second distance; and an axis of rotation about which said expander is rotatable so that said expander moves apart the moveable portions of said implant when said opposed arcs are rotated against the moveable portions of said implant, the axis being perpendicular to a plane, wherein said plane includes said first and second distances, and said plane extends through said upper, lower, and side surfaces.