Patent ID: 6843790

Claim:
A system for rigidly coupling at least three vertebrae, which are not collinear, together on the spine, comprising: an elongated plate having an upper and a lower surface, a first upper linear section, a second lower linear section, and a central curved section coupling said first and second sections, and having an opening located within the central region of said plate running along the central axis of said plate, with said central curved section and said lower linear section located at an angle with respect to said upper linear section; a plurality of bone engaging screws each having a head for engaging said lower surface of said plate, an elongated shank with outer bone engaging threads, and an inner threaded hollow bore, wherein a bone engaging screw is affixed at each of the L 4 , L 5 and S 1 vertebrae; and a plurality of inner screws each having a head and an elongated threaded shank; wherein when said plate is positioned on the spine, a first inner screw is inserted through said curved section of said plate and fastened to the bone engaging screw at the L 5 vertebra, a second inner screw is inserted through said first upper section of said plate and fastened to the bone engaging screw at the L 4 vertebra, and a third inner screw is inserted through said second lower section of said plate and fastened to the bone engaging screw at the S 1 vertebra, thus rigidly coupling these vertebrae together.