ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 11 -- United States Patent no. 12,544,111, issued on Feb. 10.
"Polyaxial spinal screw" was invented by Agris Mertens (Riga, Latvia).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Invention relates to polyaxial spinal screws for correcting and stabilizing a spinal cord by open and minimally invasive technique. The polyaxial spinal screw comprises a screw shaft (10), a coupling (20), a sleeve (30) and a set screw (50). The coupling (20) has a proximal end (202) and a distal end (203). The coupling (20) comprises a spherical cut (21) sized to receive the screw shaft (10). The coupling (20) further comprises two slots (26) for receiving a stabilizing rod (40). The coupling (20) comprises an ...