Patent ID: 8486090

Claim:
An elongated snake arm surgical instrument support for securing surgical instruments in a fixed position in a surgical environment, the surgical instrument support comprising: a mounting clamp connectable to a fixed component in the surgical environment; an adjustable tightening mechanism adjacent the mounting clamp, the tightening mechanism having a rotatable crank and a moveable spindle; a plurality of mating arm segments provided in series, each arm segment having first and second ends and an aperture extending from the first end to the second end thereof, the first end of each arm segment configured to mate with the second end of an adjacent arm segment, wherein the first end of each mating arm segment has a male mating geometry, and the second end of each mating arm segment has a female mating geometry, the female mating geometry of each mating arm segment being adapted to mate with the male mating geometry of an adjacent mating arm segment, wherein one of the first end of each mating arm segment and the second end of each mating arm segment has a surface that has a first surface hardness and is roughened, and wherein the other of the first end of each mating arm segment and the second end of each mating arm segment has a surface that has a second surface hardness, the second surface hardness being less than the first surface hardness; an end member, wherein the end member comprises a separate retainer and instrument connector member; and, an elongated line having a first end, a second end and a middle portion therebetween, the first end being connected to one of the crank and the spindle, the second end being operably connected to the end member, and the middle portion extending through the plurality of mating arm segments, wherein one of the crank and the spindle is adjustable to tighten the line between the end member and an arm segment adjacent the mounting clamp to rigidly connect the mating arm segments together in a fixed desirable position; wherein the line is removably secured to the retainer to retain each of the arm segments on the line, and wherein the retainer is removably secured to the instrument connector member to allow the instrument connector to be removed from the end member without the line releasing the arm segments from the fixed desirable position.