Patent ID: 8685104

Claim:
An intervertebral prosthesis, comprising: a body including first and second spaced apart major surfaces and at least one sidewall extending therebetween, the first major surface for engaging an endplate of a first vertebral bone of a spine, and the second major surface for engaging an endplate of an adjacent, second vertebral bone of the spine, and the first and second major surfaces defining a longitudinal axis extending substantially normal to said surfaces; at least three apertures extending from within the body and each aperture opening at one of the first and second major surfaces; a respective anchoring element disposed within each aperture and including a shaft having proximal and distal ends; and a drive mechanism engaging the proximal end of each anchoring element and operating to push the anchoring elements out through the respective apertures and into the first vertebral bone or the second vertebral bone, without rotating any anchoring element about a major axis thereof, the drive mechanism having: a head at a proximal end of a single threaded shaft extending therefrom, thereby defining a longitudinal axis thereof; and a translator element having: (i) a threaded bore in threaded engagement with the threaded shaft of the drive shaft, (ii) at least one coupling element in engagement with, and permitting articulation of, the proximal end of at least one anchoring element, wherein the drive shaft is fixed in a direction of the longitudinal axis thereof, but rotatable, within the body, such that a rotation force on the drive shaft causes the translator to: (i) move along the longitudinal axis of the drive shaft, (ii) translate each of the proximal ends of the respective anchoring elements parallel to the longitudinal axis of the drive shaft, and (iii) push the respective anchoring elements out through the respective apertures such that each anchoring element pierces into one of the first and second vertebral bones, without rotating any anchoring element about the major axis thereof.