Means for cutting nerve tissue

Claim 1

In combination: a sheet of elastic and extensible material having a relaxed thickness; and a fixture for cutting nerve tissue comprising a body, a first and second arm on said body carrying a respective first and second sidewall surface and a bottom surface extending between said first and second sidewall surface so as to form an open-topped channel having a longitudinal axis, a longitudinally extending retention slot passing through the body from the bottom surface and open at one longitudinal end of the channel, but not at the other, the retention slot having a reference widTh less than twice the relaxed thickness of the material, and a guide slot in each of said arms, and extending into said arms at least to the bottom surface, said guide slots being aligned with each other to form an aligned pair, whereby nerve tissue may be folded in a fold of the material to form an enfoldment comprising the nerve tissue and embracing material, the folds of the material being stretched and thereby thinned and brought through the retention slot so as to pull the enfoldment against the bottom surface, the stretching forces on the material then being released so the material tends to return toward its relaxed thickness and hold itself in the retention slot, and a cutting blade may thereafter be passed into the guide slots to cut the nerve tissue.