ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 23 -- United States Patent no. 12,364,478, issued on July 22, was assigned to INTUITIVE SURGICAL OPERATIONS INC. (Sunnyvale, Calif.).
"Stapler cartridge with an integral knife" was invented by William A. Burbank (Sandy Hook, Conn.), Matthew A. Wixey (San Jose, Calif.) and Nicholas Ragosta (San Jose, Calif.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Stapler cartridges and surgical apparatus that include a stapler cartridge can include a knife that retracts into the stapler cartridge after cutting stapled tissue to prevent an operator being cut by the knife during replacement of the used stapler cartridge with a new stapler cartridge. A stapler cartridge includes a staple pushing shut...