Patent ID: 7105023

Claim:
A vertebral defect device comprising: a housing having a convexly tapered and generally bluntly rounded distal end, a convexly tapered proximal end, a top, a bottom, an anterior side, a posterior side and an outer surface having generally rounded edges thereby facilitating insertion into an intervertebral space between a pair of adjacent vertebrae, a length of the housing as measured from the distal end to the proximal end being greater than a maximum width of the housing as measured between the anterior and posterior sides and being greater than a maximum height of the housing as measured between the top and bottom, the taper of the distal end diminishing more gradually than the taper of the proximal end and diminishing to the generally bluntly rounded distal end, the taper of the distal end being configured to provide distraction of adjacent vertebrae during insertion of the vertebral defect device, the maximum width of the housing as measured between the anterior and posterior sides being different than the maximum height of the housing as measured between the top and bottom, the top and bottom of the housing are at least partially convexly shaped enough to cooperatively mate with concavities of adjacent vertebrae, and the anterior and posterior sides are at least partially convexly shaped in order to allow installation of the vertebral defect device into the space defined by the concavities of the adjacent vertebrae.