ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 12 -- United States Patent no. 12,623,039, issued on May 12, was assigned to ICU MEDICAL INTERNATIONAL Ltd. (Ashford, Great Britain).
"Medico-surgical apparatus" was invented by Steven Mark Tupper (Hythe, Great Britain), Jamie Daniel Perkins (Ashford, Great Britain) and Steven James Field (Bridge Canterbury, Great Britain).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Apparatus (20) for fitting to the machine end of a tracheostomy tube (10) includes both an HME and a speaking valve (30). The HME includes two exchange elements (28, 29) at opposite ends of a housing (23) extending laterally of a coupling (25) for fitting on the tube. The speaking valve has a cylindrical sleeve (31) extendi...