U.S. Patent 8097017 was awarded to Tyco Healthcare Group LP on 2012-01-17 and describes a “Surgical fasteners coated with wound treatment materials.” This patent has been cited 341 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:

The present disclosure relates to surgical fasteners and more particularly to surgical fasteners coated with wound treatment materials. According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a surgical fastener for use in combination with a surgical fastener applying apparatus is provided. The surgical fastener includes a pair of legs; a crown interconnecting the pair of legs; and a wound treatment material coating at least a portion of the legs and crown. Link: U.S. Patent 8097017

This patent was originally filed on 2005-10-14 which gives it a processing time of 2286 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 Frank J. Viola of Sandy, UT. The assistant examiner was Gregory Anderson.

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/