Patent ID: 8617197

Claim:
An introducer for providing a surgical tool with a pathway through tissue to a surgical site, wherein the surgical tool includes at least one surgical instrument, the introducer comprising: a flexible sheath having a distal portion including a distal end and configured to receive the surgical tool; a tissue separation tip coupled with the distal portion of the sheath for advancing the sheath into the tissue towards the surgical site, the tissue separation tip being configured to separate tissue to form a tissue gap and provide the at least one surgical instrument access to the tissue gap for performing a medical procedure consonant with the formation of the tissue gap or the performance of work at the surgical site, the tissue separation tip including a plurality of fingers and a corresponding plurality of inflatable members, each of the fingers extending from and hingedly coupled with the sheath distal portion and carrying a respective one of the inflatable members, which, when inflated, serve to separate the tissue and form the tissue gap; one or more conduits coupled with the inflatable members to transfer an inflating fluid to and from the inflatable members; and one or more actuators operatively coupled with the fingers to open the fingers, wherein the inflatable members and the fingers are configured such that, during a reconfiguration from a first configuration in which the inflatable members are inflated and the fingers are in a closed configuration to a second configuration in which the inflatable members are fully deflated and the fingers are in an open configuration in which the fingers are oriented substantially parallel to the distal portion of the sheath, substantially constant pressure can be maintained on the separated tissue so as to maintain the tissue gap.