U.S. Patent 8083120 was awarded to Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. on 2011-12-27 and describes a “End effector for use with a surgical cutting and stapling instrument.” This patent has been cited 344 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 end effector for a surgical cutting and stapling instrument. In various embodiments, the end effector may include an elongate channel that is configured to support a staple cartridge therein and which is also operably coupled to a surgical cutting and stapling instrument. An anvil may be movably supported relative to the elongate channel for selective movement between an open position and a closed position wherein tissue is clamped between the anvil and a staple cartridge supported within the elongate channel in response to a closing motion applied thereto from the surgical cutting and stapling instrument. At least one light source may be provided on at least one of the staple cartridge and the elongate channel. The light sources may interface with the anvil to provide a visual indication viewable through a portion of the anvil to indicate a position of tissue clamped between the anvil and the staple cartridge. Link: U.S. Patent 8083120

This patent was originally filed on 2008-09-18 which gives it a processing time of 1195 days, compared to an average processing time of 1097 in the field. Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. has 2128 total patents. The first named inventor is Richard F. Schwemberger of Cincinnati, OH. The primary examiner was Paul Durand.

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