Patent ID: 7909846

Claim:
A surgical retractor comprising: a frame member; first and second retractor blades coupled to the frame member, said retractor blades opposing one another, each said retractor blade having an elongated vane and an arcuate throat configured to receive ribs in an incision in a patient's body, wherein at least one of the first and second retractor blades is movable with respect to the frame member along a first lateral axis to position the retractor blades toward or away from each other; a foot coupled to one of the frame member and the first and second blades, the foot being located outside of a space defined between said first and second retractor blades, wherein the foot is adjustable in a vertical direction relative to the frame member and transverse to a direction in which the blades extend, and wherein the foot is rotatable, relative to said first and second blades, about an axis extending in a direction normal to said first lateral axis; a locking mechanism for locking the foot relative to the frame member in a selected relative position along an axis which is transverse to the first axis; an actuator for actuating a drive mechanism interconnected between said first and second retractor blades, wherein actuation of said actuator drives said mechanism to drive said foot and one of said first and second retractor blades away from the other of said first and second retractor blades; and an actuation mechanism directly connected between said foot and one of said first and second retractor blades, wherein upon moving said foot and one of said first and second retractor blades away from the other of said first and second retractor blades, said actuation mechanism moves said foot and said one of said first and second retractor blades vertically with respect to the other of said first and second retractor blades, transverse to the direction of the first axis.