ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 31 -- United States Patent no. 12,588,804, issued on March 31, was assigned to COOK MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES LLC (Bloomington, Ind.).
"Endoscope bending section" was invented by John Crowder Sigmon Jr. (Winston-Salem, N.C.) and Shaun D. Gittard (Winston-Salem, N.C.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Endoscope systems with bending sections that can bend in four directions independent of the rotatable viewing configuration of the endoscope systems are provided. Embodiments include continuous and uncontinuous ribs that provide for at least one accessory channel structure to be movable laterally into and out of a longitudinal interior cavity circumferentially defined by the ribs. M...