U.S. Patent 7870989 was awarded to Tyco Healthcare Group LP on 2011-01-18 and describes a “Surgical stapler with timer and feedback display.” This patent has been cited 400 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 apparatus has a clamp and a stapling mechanism. The clamp has a first jaw and a second jaw to clamp on a body tissue at a desired location for a stapling operation. The stapling mechanism is controlled by a trigger handle or a switch assembly. The surgical apparatus has a controller for providing a delay between clamping and actuating of the firing mechanism of the stapling mechanism. The delay provides for a desired amount of time for tissue compression producing a more uniform staple formation. The surgical apparatus also has an indicator. The indicator provides feedback about the status of the stapling mechanism and also displays a time of tissue compression by the clamp. Link: U.S. Patent 7870989

This patent was originally filed on 2008-07-24 which gives it a processing time of 908 days, compared to an average processing time of 1097 in the field. Tyco Healthcare Group LP has 1168 total patents. The first named inventor is Frank J. Viola of Sandy, UT. The primary examiner was Scott A. Smith.

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