Patent ID: 8118739

Claim:
An endonasal speculum comprising: first and second substantially bilaterally symmetrical side members having proximal and distal ends joined by a pivot and including variable dilation control; the first side member including a first handle element and a substantially straight first elongated blade extending at an angle from a distal end of the first handle and the second side member including a second handle element and a substantially straight second elongated blade extending at an angle from a distal end of the second handle element; a surgical corridor formed by the combination of the distal ends of the first and second handle elements and by substantially the entire length of the first and second elongated blades; the first and second elongated blades each transitioning from an arcuate cross section at a proximal end to a linear cross section at a distal end, and the distal ends of the first and second elongated blades in cross section are flared away from each other in one of an upward orientation (trapezoidal-up) and downward orientation (trapezoidal-down), wherein both the proximal end cross section and the distal end cross section are oriented perpendicular with respect to the surgical corridor; and the distal ends of each blade are opposed to each other with respect to the perpendicular cross section at a specified angle.