Patent ID: 8480576

Claim:
A retractor assembly for conducting minimally invasive surgery comprising retractor wings that are relatively articulable with respect to each other and are configurable around a hollow space for defining a working channel to a surgical site, slots formed in the retractor wings, retractor inserts receivable within the slots in different positions around the working channel, each of the retractor wings including inner and outer surfaces joined by sidewalls extending along a length of the retractor wings towards the surgical site from a top end of the retractor wings to a bottom end of the retractor wings, each of the slots extending along the length of each of the retractor wings from the top end of the retractor wings to the bottom end of the retractor wings, at least one of the retractor inserts being arranged for performing a surgical function and having a length that extends from the top end of one of the retractor wings through the bottom end of the one retractor wing for reaching the surgical site, temporary interconnections being formed between the sidewalls of adjacent retractor wings in positions along the length of the retractor wings at which the retractor wings are arranged for insertion into the working channel to the surgical site, the temporary interconnections including features formed in the sidewalls of adjacent retractor wings in the positions at which the retractor wings are arranged for insertion into the working channel for temporarily interconnecting the adjacent retractor wings, and the two sidewalls of individual retractor wings being separable from the sidewalls of adjacent retractor wings along the temporary interconnections so that the individual retractor wings can be pivoted apart from the adjacent retractor wings, wherein the temporary interconnections formed between the sidewalls of the adjacent retractor wings provide for holding the retractor wings in a closed shape surrounding the working channel.