ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 5 -- United States Patent no. 12,616,459, issued on May 5, was assigned to CooperSurgical Inc. (Trumbull, Conn.).
"Illuminated medical devices" was invented by Jeffrey Ralph Swift (Boca Grande, Fla.), Jason Swift (Newburyport, Mass.), Matthew Traub (Andover, Mass.) and Nicholas Lauder (Medford, Mass.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A surgical retractor comprising a blade having first and second opposing surfaces, and a handle extending from a proximal end of the blade, wherein the first surface of the blade includes a non-slip texture having a preferential grip in a first direction corresponding to direction of extraction of the surgical retractor from an incision and havi...