Patent ID: 8172902

Claim:
A non-articulating semi-rigid spinal implant, comprising: upper and lower rigid non-articulating endplates that define at least one aligned pair of substantially rigid male and female members, a respective female member having an interior facing cavity and the respective male member facing toward the female cavity; and at least one elastic member in communication with the male member and/or the female member cavity, wherein the at least one elastic member is a resiliently deformable member that changes shape while residing in the female member cavity and defines a soft stop before the endplates with the respective male and female members bottom out during compressive loading, wherein the semi-rigid spinal implant is a spacer for fusion spinal therapy and has dynamic stabilization, wherein the lower endplate includes a lower portion with a surface that is configured to contact local bone and a second surface that is vertically spaced apart from and resides above the lower portion, the second surface being attached to the female member, and wherein each respective male member comprises a first end portion that merges into a larger medial portion, with at least one spring held under the larger medial portion about the first end portion, wherein the first end portion of the respective male member is able to travel up and down a distance between about 1-2.5 mm in the respective female interior facing cavity while the at least one spring is held above the respective female cavity under the larger medial portion of the respective male member.