Patent ID: 8070811

Claim:
A spinal prosthesis, comprising: a first prosthesis body sized, shaped, and oriented to span the distance between a first pedicle of a vertebral body and a first inferior articular process on the opposite side of the vertebral body from the first pedicle; a second prosthesis body sized, shaped, and oriented to span the distance between a second pedicle of the vertebral body and second inferior articular process on the opposite side of the vertebral body from the second pedicle; a fastening element couple to each of the first and second prosthesis bodies, the fastening elements configured to be installed within the vertebral body at or near the first and second pedicles; and an artificial facet joint structure carried by each of the first and second prosthesis bodies at locations spaced from the fastening elements wherein the artificial facet joint comprises a first and second set of cups, the first set of cups being configured to articulate with a left and right inferior halves of the facet joint and the second set of cups being configured to articulate with a left and right superior halves of the facet joint.