U.S. Patent 8241271 was awarded to Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. on 2012-08-14 and describes a “Robotic surgical instruments with a fluid flow control system for irrigation, aspiration, and blowing.” This patent has been cited 302 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:

In one embodiment of the invention, a robotic surgical instrument is provided for the control of flows of one or more fluids into and out of a surgical site. The robotic surgical instrument may include a housing, a flow control system, a hollow tube, and one or more hose fittings. The housing to couple the instrument to a robotic arm. The flow control system mounted in the housing includes one or more controlled valves to control the flow of one or more fluids. The hollow tube has a first end mounted in the housing coupled to the flow control system. A second end of the hollow tube has one or more openings to allow the flow of fluids into and out of the surgical site. The hose fittings have a first end coupled to the flow control system and a second end to couple to hoses. Link: U.S. Patent 8241271

This patent was originally filed on 2006-01-27 which gives it a processing time of 2391 days, compared to an average processing time of 1933 in the field. Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. has 692 total patents. The first named inventor is David W. Bailey of Bellevue, WA. The assistant examiner was Jeffrey Lipitz.

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/