Patent ID: 8961535
Filing Date: 2015-02-24
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. A guide tube for guiding an instrument through a hole within tissue of a patient, the hole being defined by a surface, the guide tube comprising: a cannula member defining a passage extending therethrough along an axis from a proximal end to a distal end, the passage operable to receive the instrument and guide the instrument through the hole within the tissue of the patient, the cannula member including an exterior surface having a tapered portion adjacent the distal end, the tapered portion increasing in diameter toward the distal end; and an expansion member that is moveably coupled to the cannula member to selectively move radially between a retracted position and an expanded position relative to the axis of the cannula member, wherein the expansion member includes a plurality of sections that are spaced circumferentially about the axis and each section remains in slidable surface contact along the tapered portion of the exterior surface to move between the expanded and retracted positions, the expansion member being at least partially insertable into the hole when the expansion member is in the retracted position, the expansion member operable to engage with the surface of the hole when the expansion member is in the expanded position, and wherein the expansion member includes an outer surface that is operable to engage the surface of the hole, the outer surface moving radially toward and away from the axis when moving between the retracted and expanded positions, the outer surface being substantially parallel to the axis in a section of the expansion member taken along the axis as the expansion member moves between the retracted and expanded positions.