Patent ID: 7244244

Claim:
A surgical seal assembly for reception of an elongated surgical instrument, which comprises: a body dimensioned for positioning within body tissue, the body defining a longitudinal axis and having a longitudinal opening extending therethrough dimensioned to permit passage of an elongated surgical instrument through the body to access underlying tissue; a non-inflatable seal member comprising a resilient material and being disposed in the body and mounted across the longitudinal opening, the seal member including proximal and distal internal seal surfaces extending in general orthogonal relation to the longitudinal axis, the seal member defining an aperture extending through the internal seal surfaces, the aperture being configured and dimensioned such that insertion of the surgical instrument into the aperture causes the resilient material adjacent the aperture to resiliently contact the outer surface of the surgical instrument in a substantially fluid tight manner, the seal member further including a peripheral flange element outwardly of the internal seal surfaces adapted to contact a surface of the body to form a contact seal therewith; and a layer of fabric material juxtaposed relative to the resilient material of the seal member, and in contacting relation therewith.