U.S. Patent 7708180 was awarded to Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. on 2010-05-04 and describes a “Surgical fastening device with initiator impregnation of a matrix or buttress to improve adhesive application.” This patent has been cited 351 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 material comprising a matrix or a buttress is impregnated with an adhesive initiator and is used with a surgical stapling device and an adhesive. The tissue and material are stapled together, and a knife in the surgical stapling device cuts the tissue and the material. The adhesive is applied across the cut and sets up or polymerizes to seals the cut when the adhesive contacts the adhesive initiator. The surgical stapling device can place the staples in a linear, arcuate, or circular array, and can anastomose luminal tissue. The methods of use can include stapling luminal tissue end to end, stapling two portions of material onto ether side of tissue, and stapling two portions of tissue onto a portion of material. Additionally, a portion of adhesive filed material can be stapled onto one side of portion of tissue and the adhesive initiator impregnated material can be stapled onto the other. Cutting the material and tissue provides a path for the adhesive across the cut, and catalyzes the adhesive from contact with the adhesive initiator. Link: U.S. Patent 7708180

This patent was originally filed on 2006-11-09 which gives it a processing time of 1272 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 Michael A. Murray of Bellevue, WA. The primary examiner was Brian D Nash.

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