Patent ID: 11871918
Assignee: REBOUND THERAPEUTICS CORPORATION
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 0:
1. A method of visualizing the spine for a lumbar interbody fusion procedure, said method comprising:
inserting a blade portion of a retractor system into the body of a patient, from a lateral, anterior, oblique, or posterior insertion point, said retractor system comprising:
a frame;
a plurality of retractor blades characterized by a distal end and a proximal end, said retractor blades secured to the frame at their respective proximal ends, said frame operable to move the blades toward a first closely-spaced configuration and toward a second widely-spaced configuration, said retractor blades defining a central longitudinal axis and a proximal retractor opening near the proximal end of the blades, and a distal retractor opening proximate the distal ends of the retractor blades, and a surgical channel extending from said proximal retractor opening and said distal retractor opening;
a camera assembly slidably mounted on the retractor system, and slidable along the length of one of the retractor blades of the plurality of retractor blades toward and away from the distal retractor opening, said camera assembly characterized by a viewing axis and a distal optical element, said camera assembly slidable to align the viewing axis such that the viewing axis intersects the central longitudinal axis near the distal retractor opening when the retractor blades are transitioned between the first closely-spaced configuration and the second widely-spaced configuration;

positioning distal ends of the retractor blades proximate the spine;
operating the retractor system to transition the retractor blades to the widely-spaced configuration and thereby enlarge the surgical channel;
sliding the camera assembly along the length of one of the retractor blades of the plurality of retractor blades, as necessary to align the viewing axis such that the viewing axis intersects the central longitudinal axis near the distal retractor opening; and
visualizing the spine with the camera assembly.