Patent ID: 8556974

Claim:
A device for stabilizing a first vertebra relative to a second vertebra, the device comprising: a superior endplate having an inferior surface and a motion limiting member, said motion limiting member extending downward below said inferior surface; an inferior endplate having a superior surface and a motion limiting member, said motion limiting member extending upward above said superior surface, wherein said motion limiting member extending from said superior surface is staggered from said motion limiting member of said inferior endplate; a compressible and flexible body having a superior surface and an inferior surface, said superior surface of said body facing said inferior surface of said superior endplate, said inferior surface of said body facing said superior surface of said inferior endplate, said body being held in contact with and laterally between said superior endplate and said inferior endplate by said motion limiting members, wherein the body is formed of at a first layer and a second layer, wherein the first layer is formed of a first material and the second layer is formed of a second material different from the first material; and wherein when said superior endplate and inferior endplate move too far laterally from each other, said motion limiting member extending from said superior surface contacts said motion limiting member extending from said inferior surface to limit how far the superior endplate and inferior endplate can shift relative to each other wherein as the body compresses and flexes, the motion limiting member of the superior endplate intermeshes with the motion limiting member of the inferior endplate wherein the device further comprises a locking plate having a superior screw anchoring member configured to connect to a first vertebra and an inferior screw anchoring member configured to connect to a second vertebra, wherein said superior screw anchoring member and said inferior screw anchoring member are laterally offset, said locking plate overlying said superior endplate and said inferior endplate, wherein the superior screw anchoring member is vertically aligned above the motion limiting member of the inferior implant.