Patent ID: 8603173

Claim:
A space keeper for insertion between two vertebrae, comprising: a sleeve-like member having a longitudinal axis, a circumferential wall extending around the longitudinal axis and defining an interior space, and a free end at one end of the circumferential wall of the sleeve-like member to engage a first vertebra; an inner member guided in the interior space of the sleeve-like member and having a free end extending out of the sleeve-like member at an end of the space keeper opposite from the free end of the sleeve-like member to engage a second vertebra, the inner member movable in the interior space in the direction of the longitudinal axis relative to the sleeve-like member for setting an overall length of the space keeper from the free end of the sleeve-like member to the free end of the inner member; a lever in the interior space of the sleeve-like member, the lever pivotably connected to the sleeve-like member and the inner member; and a driver connectable to the lever to move the lever between a first position wherein a longitudinal axis of the lever is transverse to the longitudinal axis of the sleeve-like member and a second position wherein the longitudinal axis of the lever is closer to a position in which the longitudinal axis of the lever is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the sleeve-like member than in the first position; wherein the overall length of the space keeper is greater in one of the first and second positions than in the other of the first and second positions.