U.S. Patent 8020742 was awarded to Tyco Healthcare Group LP on 2011-09-20 and describes a “Powered surgical stapling device.” This patent has been cited 321 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 medical instrument having a tool assembly attachable to a distal end of the medical instrument is disclosed. The tool assembly includes a pair of opposing tissue engaging surfaces for clamping tissue therebetween. The medical instrument also includes a housing having a fixed handle and a movable handle mounted to the housing and selectively movable relative to the fixed handle from a first position in spaced relation relative to the fixed handle to a second position closer to the fixed handle to actuate the clamping of tissue. The instrument further includes a selectively activatable drive assembly including a power source and a motor which is operatively coupled to the movable handle, wherein upon actuation the motor actuates the pair of opposing tissue engaging surfaces. The drive assembly also includes a controller configured to variably control the rate at which the motor actuates the pair of opposing tissue engaging surfaces in response to the force exerted on the movable handle. Link: U.S. Patent 8020742

This patent was originally filed on 2009-12-11 which gives it a processing time of 648 days, compared to an average processing time of 1080 in the field. Tyco Healthcare Group LP has 1168 total patents. The first named inventor is Stanislaw Z. Marczyk of Stratford, CA. The primary examiner was Scott A. Smith.

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