Patent ID: 7611536

Claim:
An interbody spinal implant made of cortical bone for insertion at least in part across the height of a disc space between adjacent vertebral bodies of a human spine, the vertebral bodies having an anterior aspect and a posterior aspect, said implant comprising: a leading end for insertion first into the disc space, a trailing end opposite said leading end, said implant having a length along a mid-longitudinal axis of said implant from said leading end to said trailing end; opposed upper and lower portions between said leading and trailing ends adapted to be placed at least in part within and across the height of the disc space to contact and support the adjacent vertebral bodies, said opposed upper and lower portions having a maximum height therebetween, said upper and lower portions being non-arcuate along at least a portion of the length of said implant; an interior side, an exterior side opposite said interior side, and a maximum width therebetween greater than said maximum height, said maximum width of said implant being less than one-half of the width of the adjacent vertebral bodies into which said implant is adapted to be inserted, said interior and exterior sides connecting said upper and lower portions and said leading and trailing ends, said interior side and said exterior side each being at least in part straight along at least a portion of the length of said implant, said leading end being asymmetrical from side to side, said leading end and said trailing end each being at least in part curved from side to side, said interior side adapted to be oriented toward an interior side of another implant when inserted within the disc space; said implant being manufactured from a bone ring obtained from a major long bone of a human having a medullary canal, said implant including at least 40 percent of the bone ring from which it is being formed, said interior side of said implant including at least a portion of the medullary canal so that when said implant is placed side by side another implant having an interior side including at least a portion of a medullary canal a passage is formed adapted to hold bone growth promoting material for permitting for the growth of bone from vertebral body to vertebral body through said passage.