Patent ID: 8029567

Claim:
A method of implanting an interspinous implant, comprising: percutaneously inserting an elongate member into an interspinous space between adjacent spinous processes; the elongate member including a proximal end portion and a distal end portion and a longitudinal axis therebetween; the inserting resulting in the elongate member extending through a sagittal plane defined by the spinous processes with the longitudinal axis disposed transversely to the sagittal plane; the proximal end portion comprising a plurality of spaced apart first deformable areas of lowered buckling resistance; the distal end portion comprising a plurality of spaced apart second deformable areas of lowered buckling resistance; applying a longitudinally compressive load to the elongate member to longitudinally shorten the elongate member so as to move a section of the proximal end portion from a first configuration to a second configuration by buckling and plastically deforming the first deformable areas so that the first deformable areas extend farther away from the longitudinal axis; applying a longitudinally compressive load to the elongate member to longitudinally shorten the elongate member so as to move a section of the distal end portion from a first configuration to a second configuration by buckling and plastically deforming the second deformable areas so that the second deformable areas extend farther away from the longitudinal axis; wherein the first and second deformable areas thereafter remain in the second configuration absent any force applied to the first and second deformable areas, either external or internal to the elongate member.