ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,551,357, issued on Feb. 17, was assigned to MicroVention Inc. (Aliso Viejo, Calif.).

"Stent" was invented by Ponaka Pung (Signal Hill, Calif.), Helen Nguyen (Carson, Calif.) and Tai D. Tieu (Fountain Valley, Calif.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A stent with varying porosity is described. The stent can be comprised of multiple stents attached together. A braided stent may have selected regions of increased thickness. The stent may be comprised of wires that are welded together at their ends in order to minimize vessel trauma. The stent may comprise a helically wound radiopaque wire wound through the stent."

The patent was filed on June ...