Patent attributes
A system for implanting a bone screw into a vertebra of a vertebral column of a patient to help secure an implant within a joint between the vertebra and an adjacent vertebra may include a bone screw, a bone screw delivery mechanism detachably connected to the bone screw, and a guide tube. The guide tube may have a proximal end, a distal end, a lumen configured to receive the bone screw and the bone screw delivery mechanism, and at least one bend disposed nearer the distal end than the proximal end. The bend in the guide tube may change a trajectory of the bone screw and the bone screw delivery mechanism advancing through the lumen from a first trajectory along a longitudinal axis of the guide tube to a second trajectory that is angled relative to the longitudinal axis.