Endoscopic surgery procedure can be performed by inserting instruments through a small incisions through a body wall. During the surgery, pressurized gas can be introduced into the body cavity to move the skin and muscles away from the organ or organs requiring surgery. Internal organs can move under the force of gravity, however, and in some cases an instrument may be needed to move and retain the organs in a desired orientation during the procedure.
In my U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,128, I disclosed an organ retractor having a plurality of fingers for insertion into a body cavity to assist in moving organs and retaining them in a desired orientation during laproscopic surgery. The organ retractor disclosed therein, however, has a plurality of fingers made of spring steel or the like which are biased to separate their distal ends from one another unless they are retained by a plurality of strings movable through a central shaft. To control the operation of my previous organ retractor one must rely upon the spring bias of the various fingers for maintaining the spacing of the distal finger ends.
It would be desirable to provide an organ retractor with expansible members whose movement is controlled by the surgeon without the use of pre-biased members.