U.S. Patent 8006885 was awarded to Tyco Healthcare Group LP on 2011-08-30 and describes a “Surgical stapling apparatus with powered retraction.” This patent has been cited 293 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 comprises a handle assembly, an actuation shaft having a connector, and a retraction mechanism positioned within the handle assembly. The retraction mechanism includes a motor coupled to a transmission shaft, a first gear rotatably mounted on the transmission shaft, the first gear configured to engage a second gear, a clutch operatively attached to the second gear, a main shaft rotatably connected to the clutch, and a pulley coupled to the main shaft, the pulley being operatively attached to the connector. The connector and the pulley may be attached via a cable. The retraction mechanism may include a spring motor for maintaining the cable in tension. The spring motor may have a spring element wrapped around and interconnecting at least two arbors. Link: U.S. Patent 8006885

This patent was originally filed on 2007-04-09 which gives it a processing time of 1604 days, compared to an average processing time of 1226 in the field. Tyco Healthcare Group LP has 1168 total patents. The first named inventor is Stanislaw Z. Marczyk of Stratford, CA. The assistant examiner was Michelle Lopez.

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