U.S. Patent 8365973 was awarded to Cardica, Inc. on 2013-02-05 and describes a “D-shaped surgical staples.” This patent has been cited 286 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:

An exemplary surgical apparatus may include a surgical staple deformable from a first configuration to a second, deployed configuration, where the surgical staple includes a first leg and a second leg; where in the second, deployed configuration the surgical staple forms substantially a D-shape. Another exemplary surgical apparatus may include a feeder belt; a surgical staple deformable from a first configuration to a second, deployed configuration, where the surgical staple includes a first leg and a second leg connected to the first leg, where one end of the first leg is frangibly affixed to the feeder belt and one end of said the leg is free; where in the second, deployed configuration the surgical staple forms substantially a D-shape. An exemplary method of treating tissue may include providing a surgical staple; urging the surgical staple into tissue, while the surgical staple has a first shape; and deforming the surgical staple into substantially a D-shape. Link: U.S. Patent 8365973

This patent was originally filed on 2011-04-19 which gives it a processing time of 658 days, compared to an average processing time of 837 in the field. Cardica, Inc. has 179 total patents. The first named inventor is Bryan D. Knodel of Flagstaff, AZ. The primary examiner was Brian D Nash.

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