Patent ID: 7871374
Filing Date: 2011-01-18
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. A self-expanding surgical retractor consisting essentially of an elastic plate having substantially the shape of a truncated crescent having an inner side in the shape of an arc of a circle and an outer side in the shape of an arc of a circle rolled up about an axis so as to form, in a first, deployed position, a side wall of a substantially truncated cone shape; the inner side of the truncated crescent forming a narrowest cross section of the truncated cone constituting a distal part of the retractor when the retractor is in place and delimiting an operating field; the outer side of the truncated crescent forming a widest cross section of the truncated cone forming a proximal part, through which instruments can be introduced; said plate, in a second, rolled up position, being rolled up into a substantially cylindrical shape with a diameter smaller than or equal to the narrowest cross section of the truncated cone shape; wherein the resilience of said plate is so that it forces the retractor to open out and to exert on a wail of an incised organ a reduced stress, and is sufficient to widely retract tissues freed by an incision; said retractor comprising a single connecting means in the form of a button and a curved elongated buttonhole placed near the inner side of the truncated crescent forming the narrowest cross section of the retractor when in its first, deployed position, said connecting means maintaining the plate in cone form in its first, deployed position; said retractor comprising two buttonholes placed near the outer side of the truncated crescent, forming the widest cross section of the truncated cone when in deployed position on either side of said crescent, said buttonholes being able to cooperate with button-shaped heads placed at a distal end of elongated positioning instruments for facilitating its manipulation; said retractor further comprising a series of perforations forming anchoring points dispersed along the outer side of the truncated crescent for allowing the widest cross section of the truncated cone when in deployed position to be tied to surrounding tissues in the course of an operation.