Soft tissue retractor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9693762-B2
Application number	US-201514425535-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 2, 2015
Priority date	Mar 3, 2014
Publication date	Jul 4, 2017
Grant date	Jul 4, 2017

Abstract

A tissue retractor device within the scope of the present invention generally includes a frame, an actuating mechanism, and a plurality of blades. The actuating mechanism generally includes at least one cam that encourages automatic toe-out of the blades. The tissue retractor eliminates the need for bulky secondary blade mechanisms to prevent undesired blade deformation at the surgical site. The toe-out motion occurs simultaneously along with the opening of the blades. The present invention further provides for depth adjustment of the blades by means of an adjustable screw assembly.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A tissue retractor comprising at least two blades, the at least two blades forming a surgical corridor, the tissue retractor comprising:
a frame having a first cam and a second cam disposed on a first side surface of the frame, wherein the first cam is disposed on a distal end of the frame and the second cam is spaced apart from the first cam in both a longitudinal direction and a vertical direction so as to be offset from the first cam; and
a cam follower operatively connected to one of the at least two blades, the cam follower being generally orthogonal to a longitudinal axis of the one of the at least two blades and disposed adjacent a proximal end of the one of the at least two blades, the cam follower movable with respect to the frame,
wherein the cam follower is adapted to follow the first cam and the second cam simultaneously so as to drive a distal end of the one of the at least two blades further away than a proximal end of said one of the at least two blades during actuation of the retractor, wherein the first cam and the second cam each include a cam surface having an arcuate path on a plane generally orthogonal to a diameter of the surgical corridor.

2. The tissue retractor of claim 1 wherein the cam follower is connected to a lever.

3. The tissue retractor of claim 2 wherein two levers are provided, each of the two levers biased against a respective cam, each of the two levers having a cam follower, each cam follower engaged with a respective cam.

4. The tissue retractor of claim 3 wherein each of the two levers are mirror images of one another.

5. The tissue retractor of claim 2 , having a flange extending away from the frame towards the lever, the flange having the cam.

6. The tissue retractor of claim 1 , wherein the frame is a ring frame.

7. The tissue retractor of claim 6 wherein the ring frame includes a plurality of arms, the blades are connected to each of the plurality of arms, each of the plurality of arms are configured to pivot within the ring frame, wherein in a first position the plurality of blades form a surgical corridor which may be expanded by pivoting the plurality of arms.

8. The tissue retractor of claim 1 wherein the blade includes an adjustment mechanism connected thereto, the adjustment mechanism configured to operatively adjust the depth of the blades during a procedure.

9. The tissue retractor of claim 1 , further including a toe adjuster, the toe adjuster configured to adjust the tilt angle of the blade.

Assignees

• Alphatec Spine Inc

Inventors

• Reimels William

Classifications

• A61B17/0206 Primary

  with antagonistic arms as supports for retractor elements · CPC title