U.S. Patent 7740159 was awarded to Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. on 2010-06-22 and describes a “Pneumatically powered surgical cutting and fastening instrument with a variable control of the actuating rate of firing with mechanical power assist.” This patent has been cited 451 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 surgical instrument that includes a distal member configured to receive a pneumatically operated tool assembly therein. The instrument may also include pneumatically powered drive member configured to generate at least one actuation motion upon receipt of at least one pneumatic signal from a source of pneumatic power fluidically coupled thereto. A drive shaft assembly communicates with the pneumatically powered drive member for transmitting the actuation motions to the distally mounted pneumatically operated tool. The device further includes a power assist member that communicates with the drive shaft assembly for transmitting additional manually generated actuation motions to the drive shaft assembly. Link: U.S. Patent 7740159

This patent was originally filed on 2006-08-02 which gives it a processing time of 1420 days, compared to an average processing time of 1218 in the field. Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. has 2128 total patents. The first named inventor is Eugene L. Timperman of Cincinnati, OH. The assistant examiner was Nathaniel Chukwurah.

Select Patents monitors top medical technology patents and instruments patents which have been allowed and granted worldwide. If you would like legal advice regarding a patent or would like to file a patent go to https://selectpatents.wpengine.com/contact/