Patent ID: 8388525

Claim:
A retractor, comprising: a retractor support blade having an inferior face and a superior face; an elongated unitary flexible retractor blade, having an inferior face and a superior face, said flexible blade having a first, closed position in which ends of the flexible blade are positioned proximal to the support blade and a second, open position in which ends of the flexible blade are positioned distal to the support blade and distal to each other, the flexible blade comprising an elastically deformable material which can be deformed to the closed position and then will expand under its own biasing to the open position; wherein the flexible blade is detachable from the support blade, the support blade having structure for detachably engaging the flexible blade, with a portion of the superior face of the flexible blade abutting the inferior face of the support blade when the flexible blade is attached to the support blade; and a handle detachably engaged to and extending from the support blade.