U.S. Patent 8353438 was awarded to Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. on 2013-01-15 and describes a “Circular stapler introducer with rigid cap assembly configured for easy removal.” This patent has been cited 271 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:

Introducers for introducing a surgical circular stapler into a patient. Various embodiments comprise a hollow flexible sheath that has a distal end and an open proximal end that is sized to receive a stapling head portion of the circular stapler therein. A rigid cap assembly may be attached to the distal end of the hollow flexible sheath The rigid cap assembly may be configured to selectively move between a closed position wherein a distal face of the stapling head is covered and an open position wherein the distal face of the stapling head is exposed. A portion of the rigid cap assembly has a shape that substantially matches a perimetrical shape of a portion of the stapling head to enable the rigid cap assembly to pass proximally over the stapling head when the introducer is withdrawn from the patient. Link: U.S. Patent 8353438

This patent was originally filed on 2009-11-19 which gives it a processing time of 1153 days, compared to an average processing time of 1080 in the field. Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. has 2128 total patents. The first named inventor is Jeffrey P. Wiley of Milford Charter Twp, MI. The primary examiner was Lindsay Low.

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