U.S. Patent 7879070 was awarded to Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. on 2011-02-01 and describes a “Electroactive polymer-based actuation mechanism for grasper.” This patent has been cited 277 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:

Methods and devices are provided for actuating and/or articulating a grasping device. In one exemplary embodiment, a grasping device is provided having a shaft with an end effector having opposed jaws coupled to the shaft. An electrically expandable and contractible actuator, such as an electroactive polymer actuator, can be used to actuate the end effector to open and close the opposed jaws to grasp tissue or other objects. In another embodiment, an electroactive polymer actuator can be used to pivotally or angularly adjust a position of the end effector relative to the shaft by delivering energy to the electroactive polymer actuator. Link: U.S. Patent 7879070

This patent was originally filed on 2005-09-30 which gives it a processing time of 1950 days, compared to an average processing time of 1942 in the field. Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. has 2128 total patents. The first named inventor is Mark S. Ortiz of Milford Charter Twp, MI. The primary examiner was Todd E Manahan.

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