Patent ID: 8454583

Claim:
A device positioning system comprising: a post operable to be coupled to an operating table; a clamp mounted to the post and spaced from the table; a translational arm mounted to the clamp where the clamp is operable to cause the translational arm to be moved longitudinally and laterally relative to the table and to different angular orientations relative to the post; an instrument positioning assembly mounted to the translational arm opposite to the clamp, said positioning assembly including opposing first and second fingers, said positioning assembly further including a first slider mounted to the first finger, said first slider including a first medial-lateral sliding element slidably mounted to the first finger to provide medial-lateral positioning of the first slider and a first anterior-posterior sliding element slidably mounted to the first medial-lateral sliding element to provide anterior-posterior positioning of the first slider, said positioning assembly further including a second slider mounted to the second finger, said second slider including a second medial-lateral sliding element slidably mounted to the second finger to provide medial-lateral positioning of the second slider and a second anterior-posterior sliding element slidably mounted to the second medial-lateral sliding element to provide anterior-posterior positioning of the second slider, where the first and second anterior-posterior sliding elements are operable to hold and position one or more surgical instruments and wherein the first and second fingers are different lengths; and a control unit mechanically coupled to the positioning assembly by flexible cables to allow a surgeon to position the first and second sliders from a location remote from the positioning assembly.