Ethicon, Gmbh

Peter Douglas

Daniel Gordon

Shailendra Kumar Parihar

Timothy G Dietz

Simon Cohn

Thomas P Ryan

Kevin Shaun Weadock

Howard A Stone

Parris S Wellman

Rajesh Pendekanti

T Anh Le

Raghuveer Basude

Robert S Casar

Hugo Vanerman

Impression devices are provided for making an impression of a desired feature. The impression devices include: a flexible bladder having a cavity formed therein, the flexible bladder being capable of conforming to the details of the desired feature; a rheological material, such as a magnetorheological fluid, disposed in the cavity of the flexible bladder; and an activator for applying an external stimulus to the rheological material to change the state of the rheological material and thereby capture an impression of the desired feature.

Methods and devices utilizing rheological materials

A compact, low-profile surgical retractor () avoids the need for a bulky frame. The retractor includes retractor blade components () joined pivotally. A cable () is guided by each retractor blade component. A winding mechanism (), such as a spool, is carried by one of the retractor blade components () for winding up the cable to cause the retractor blade components to transition from a closed position to an open position. The winding mechanism may be actuated by a detachable handle (). The retractor blade components may be unitary, injection-molded pieces. The retractor blade components may be fixed pivotally, such as by pins, or pivotally joined by living hinges. A less-invasive surgical method is also provided in which the retractor is inserted into the body through an incision.

Low profile surgical retractor

A retractor including: an extension member having distal and proximal ends; a retractor member connected to the distal end of the extension member, the retractor member having a retractor surface. In a first implementation, at least a portion of the retractor surface has a distal vacuum port for positively retaining the tissue upon application of a vacuum to the vacuum port. In an alternative implementation, the retractor has an illuminator for transmitting light into an interior of the body proximate to the tissue.

Illuminated and vacuum assisted retractor

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New Milford, NJ, United States of America

Peter Douglas