Patent ID: 7201716

Claim:
A device for engaging an area of tissue comprising: an arm having a proximal end and a distal end; a cable extending through the arm, the cable having distal and proximal ends; a tissue-contacting assembly connected to the distal end of the cable, the tissue-contacting assembly having a rotatable condition in which the assembly is free to rotate relative to the arm, and a locked condition in which the assembly is locked in a position relative to the arm, the tissue-contacting assembly having at least one surface for engaging tissue; a cable tensioning mechanism connected to the proximal end of the cable and engaging the proximal end of the arm to pull the cable relative to the arm when the cable is tensioned to change the tissue-contacting assembly from the rotatable condition to the locked condition; and a clamp coupled to the proximal end of the arm for fixing the arm to a retractor, the clamp comprising a mount and a slideable jaw coupled to the mount, the mount and the slideable jaw defining an opening which may vary in width for receiving a retractor element, the slideable jaw being spring biased relative to the mount to slideably urge the jaw toward a clamping engagement with the retractor element within the opening and being movable against the spring bias to slideably withdraw the jaw and thereby release the retractor element, and a manually operable cam mechanism for locking the jaw relative to the mount.