U.S. Patent 7967179 was awarded to Tyco Healthcare Group LP on 2011-06-28 and describes a “Center cinch and release of buttress material.” This patent has been cited 293 times by other U.S. patents which places it in the top 500 cited patents since 2010 according to our law firm research, and makes it of the most innovative medical technology patents in the field of instruments. The abstract states:

A buttressed anvil assembly is provided for use with a surgical stapling instrument. The buttressed anvil assembly generally includes an anvil member having a strip of buttress material attached thereto by a pair of sutures. A tensioning mechanism is provided to secure or tension the buttress material to the anvil member prior to use and allow for release of the buttress material after stapling of tissue. The tensioning mechanism includes a cinch track engageable with one of the pair of sutures. Link: U.S. Patent 7967179

This patent was originally filed on 2009-03-31 which gives it a processing time of 819 days, compared to an average processing time of 1080 in the field. Tyco Healthcare Group LP has 1168 total patents. The first named inventor is Ernie Aranyi of Easton, PA. The assistant examiner was Michelle Lopez.

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