US Patent Issued to Alcon on June 9 for "Grasping structure for membrane removal" (Swiss Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 9 -- United States Patent no. 12,648,874, issued on June 9, was assigned to Alcon Inc. (Fribourg, Switzerland).

"Grasping structure for membrane removal" was invented by Reto Gruebler (Greifensee, Switzerland) and Luca Palmerini (Basel, Switzerland).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An ophthalmic surgical instrument for delaminating a retinal membrane includes a handpiece and an actuator mounted on the handpiece. An outer tube has a proximal end mounted to the handpiece. A grasping structure is extendable outwardly relative to a distal end of the outer tube responsive to movement of the actuator. The grasping structure includes a cavity having an opening facing the retinal m...