The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 30, 1998
Filed:
Dec. 29, 1995
John T Wright, Denver, CO (US);
Donald P Elliott, Denver, CO (US);
Francis C Wells, Sandy, Befordshire SG193AU, GB;
Other;
Abstract
A sternal retractor for applying an opening force evenly along the respective edges of a patient's sternum during heart surgery comprises a curved rack having a length, a width, and a thickness, wherein the rack is curved in the thickness direction, hinged arms mounted to the rack, a cog mechanism for forcing one of the arms to move along the rack, and retractor blades pivotally mounted to the arms. An atrial retractor which are used to retract the left and right atrium connects to an arm of the sternal retractor by an H-shaped mounting rod assembly. The assembly comprises two elongated rods mounted in spaced parallel relationship by a clamp proximate the center of the rods. A ball clamp associated with the sternal retractor and atrial retractor comprises locking discoid blocks for releasably interconnecting a plurality of rods together.