Endoscopic retractor

Claim 1

An endoscopic retractor comprising: a hollow shaft, secured at a first end thereof to hand actuating means; and having a second end to which is pivotally attached a segmented expandable tip, said tip comprising a pair of matching retractor blades positioned directly opposite each other, each attached to a corresponding connecting arm via an articulating joint, also directly opposite one another, said retractor blades and said connecting arms being aligned along their respective longitudinal axes and each having a circular periphery with approximately the same radius as one another and said hollow shaft; a substantially rigid actuating rod which at its first end engages and is moved by said hand actuating means, and which extends through the interior of said shaft through gas impermeable seal means to a second end that is attached to a pivot support plate, said pivot support plate being positioned between said matching pairs of retractor blades and connecting arms having a width substantially identical to the width of said shaft and having a plurality of coupler linkages pivotally attached thereto at one end of each said linkages, the other end of each said linkages being slideably engaged in a recessed slot in the surfaces of said retractor blades that face each other, said retractor blades and connecting arms moving with respect to each other as a result of movement of said hand actuating means that actuates said actuating rod and moves said pivot plate.