Patent ID: 7758617

Claim:
A percutaneous vertebral stabilization system, comprising: a first anchor deliverable to a vertebral body of a patient through a first percutaneous opening with an access sleeve connected thereto, the access sleeve including a central channel extending therethrough and defining a longitudinal axis; a stabilization member positionable through the first percutaneous opening to engage the first anchor; and a stabilization member insertion device releasably and rotatably linked to the stabilization member, the stabilization member insertion device configured and dimensioned to be received within the central channel such that the insertion device and stabilization member are moveable in the longitudinal direction along the longitudinal axis to position the stabilization member adjacent the first anchor, wherein the stabilization member is deliverable through the central channel in the access sleeve in a first orientation substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the access sleeve; and, independent of movement along the longitudinal axis, the stabilization member is rotatably actuatable by the stabilization member insertion device to extend in a second orientation angled with respect to the first orientation to position the stabilization member in relation to the first anchor, wherein the insertion device extends from a proximal end to a distal end along a second longitudinal axis, the insertion device comprising a first member and a second member, wherein the first member is linearly translatable with respect to the second member along the second longitudinal axis, wherein the stabilization member is linkingly engaged to the first member at a first axial location along the stabilization member and rotatably engaged to the second member at a second axial location along the stabilization member that is axially offset from the first axial location such that, when the first member is translated with respect to the second member along the second longitudinal axis the stabilization member rotates about the second member.