ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 6 -- United States Patent no. 12,458,343, issued on Nov. 4.
"Barbed suture with removable sheath" was invented by Jesse G. Nawrocki (Annandale, N.J.), Robert J. Tannhauser (Bridgewater, N.J.) and Leo B. Kriksunov (Ithaca, N.Y.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A single-armed suture assembly includes a needle, a flexible suture, and a flexible sheath. The flexible suture is coupled with the needle. The flexible suture includes first and second portions. The first portion includes a plurality of first barbs having first tips extending away from the longitudinal path in either an insertion direction or in a counter insertion direction that is opposite to the insertion directio...