Patent ID: 8708896

Claim:
A method for creating and illuminating a surgical field, said method comprising: retracting a patient's tissue to determine a surgical field; introducing a light waveguide cannula to the surgical field, the cannula having a proximal-most end, a distal end, and a central bore extending therebetween, wherein one or more light conducting conduits are optically coupled to the cannula so as to introduce light from a light source into the cannula, and wherein the one or more light conduits are movably coupled to the cannula so that the cannula can rotate independently relative to the one or more light conduits; advancing a surgical instrument through the bore toward the surgical field; introducing the light into the proximal-most end of the light waveguide, wherein introducing the light comprises dividing the light from the one or more light conduits into multiple arms that direct the light into the light waveguide, the light being introduced circumferentially therearound; circumferentially illuminating the surgical field with the cannula; and rotating the surgical instrument relative to the surgical field without entangling the one or more light conducting conduits with the surgical instrument.