Patent ID: 8663232

Claim:
A milling guide for preparing an implantation space in a spine to receive an artificial disc implant, comprising: a body having a lower end adapted to be oriented toward the spine during use of said milling guide, an upper end opposite said lower end, a height from said lower end to said upper end, a length transverse to the height, and a width transverse to the height and length, the length being greater than the width; a first elongated sleeve moveably attached to said body, said first sleeve having a circular passage for receiving a milling bit therethrough; a second elongated sleeve moveably attached to said body, said second sleeve having a circular passage for receiving a milling bit therethrough, said first and second sleeves being completely separated from one another along the height of said body, said first and second sleeves being on opposite sides of a vertical plane along the height of said body, the vertical plane bisecting the length of said body; and a central recess extending from said lower end along the vertical plane, said central recess being adapted to slideably receive an element for orienting adjacent vertebrae relative to each other prior to milling the implantation space.