Patent ID: 8460172

Claim:
A tissue stabilizer comprising: an elongated arm terminating at a distal end; a collet disposed at the distal end; and a head-link assembly rotatably coupleable to the collet, the head-link assembly including: a tube for applying negative pressure to tissue, the tube forming: an intermediate section, a first arm extending from the intermediate section, and terminating at a tip, a second arm extending from the intermediate section opposite the first arm and terminating at a tip, a spreading mechanism including first and second articulating members, each articulating member having a leg and a collet interface body projecting from the corresponding leg, the first articulating member further including a female hinge feature and the second articulating member further including a male hinge feature differing in shape from the female hinge feature and configured for pivotable coupling to the female hinge feature, wherein upon final assembly, the legs are mounted to discrete regions of the intermediate section, respectively, and the male hinge feature is pivotably coupled to the female hinge feature; wherein the head-link assembly is transitionable from a natural state having a first lateral distance between the tips to an expanded state having a second lateral distance between the tips in response to a compressive force imparted upon the collet interface bodies, the first lateral distance being less than the second lateral distance.