| 20110172494 | SURGICAL RETRACTOR WITH CURVED ROTATING BLADES - Various embodiments of the present invention provide a surgical retractor having two blade-supporting arms, which are mounted to be laterally slideable towards and apart from each other by a toothed rack. Each arm supports a respective retractor blade. In some embodiments, the retractor blades are curved in the same direction as each other so that the first blade is concave in the first direction, and a second blade is also concave in the same direction. Alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, a cushioned material or cushioned sleeve is present on the blades where the blades contact the anatomy. The cushioned material or sleeve may be made of a soft silicone. Further, the cushioned material or sleeve may be coated or molded onto the blade structure, or may be a removable sleeve that is manually slid onto or off of the blade structure. Also, alternatively or in addition in some embodiments, blade-mounted lighting may be provided. In some embodiments, the lighting may comprise a fiber optic light source that penetrates into and through the blade and terminates in an opening in the blade facing inward so that it shines light inwardly towards the direction of the other blade and/or towards the anatomy. One or both of the two opposed blades may have light sources shining generally inward. | 07-14-2011 |
