U.S. Patent 8276801 was awarded to Tyco Healthcare Group LP on 2012-10-02 and describes a “Surgical stapling apparatus.” This patent has been cited 272 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 stapling apparatus is provided and includes a housing having an actuator; an elongated member extending from the housing; an end effector disposed on an end of the elongated member, the end effector having a first jaw and a second jaw, the first jaw having a staple cartridge and the second jaw having a plurality of staple forming recesses; the staple cartridge having at least a first segment and a second segment, the first segment and the second segment each having a tissue contacting surface and staple receiving slots defined in the tissue contacting surface, the first segment and the second segment being biased toward the second jaw and movable; a biasing members for each of the first segment and the second segment; and a pressure sensor for each of the first segment and the second segment. Link: U.S. Patent 8276801

This patent was originally filed on 2011-02-11 which gives it a processing time of 599 days, compared to an average processing time of 837 in the field. Tyco Healthcare Group LP has 1168 total patents. The first named inventor is Michael A. Zemlok of Prospect, PA. The primary examiner was Scott A. Smith.

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