U.S. Patent 7926691 was awarded to Tyco Healthcare Group LP on 2011-04-19 and describes a “Variable compression surgical fastener cartridge.” This patent has been cited 287 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 fastener applying apparatus having a first jaw and a second jaw. The first jaw includes a cartridge body having plurality of surgical fasteners disposed therein. The plurality of surgical fasteners include a plurality of first surgical fasteners having a first backspan with a first configuration, and a plurality of second surgical fasteners having a second backspan with a second, different configuration such that the plurality of first surgical fasteners apply a first compressive force to tissue upon formation and the plurality of second surgical fasteners apply a second, different compressive force to tissue upon formation. Link: U.S. Patent 7926691

This patent was originally filed on 2009-04-03 which gives it a processing time of 746 days, compared to an average processing time of 1080 in the field. Tyco Healthcare Group LP has 1168 total patents. The first named inventor is Keith L. Milliman of Bethel, MN. The primary examiner was Rinaldi I. Rada.

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