U.S. Patent 8241322 was awarded to Tyco Healthcare Group LP on 2012-08-14 and describes a “Surgical device.” This patent has been cited 290 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 device is provided that includes a jaw portion with a first jaw and a second jaw moveable relative to the first jaw. The surgical device also includes a shaft portion coupled to a proximal end of the jaw portion. A driver is configured to cause relative movement of the jaw portion and the shaft portion. The driver may be configured to cause the jaw portion to pivot relative to the shaft portion about a pivot axis that is perpendicular to first and second longitudinal axes defined by the jaw portion and the shaft portion, respectively. The driver may also be configured to cause at least a portion of the jaw portion to rotate relative to the shaft portion about the first longitudinal axis. Advantageously, the surgical device includes a surgical member, e.g., a cutting element and/or a stapling element, disposed within the first jaw. Link: U.S. Patent 8241322

This patent was originally filed on 2005-07-27 which gives it a processing time of 2575 days, compared to an average processing time of 1942 in the field. Tyco Healthcare Group LP has 1168 total patents. The first named inventor is Michael P. Whitman of New Hope, MN. The primary examiner was S. Thomas Hughes.

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