ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,551,242, issued on Feb. 17, was assigned to Nuvasive Inc. (Audubon, Pa.).
"Bone anchor with deployable purchase element" was invented by Jesse Unger (San Diego), Robert German (San Diego) and Nicholas Didier (San Diego).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A bone anchor is provided for connecting a rod to a bone structure, the bone anchor having a rod housing configured to accommodate the rod; a cavity distal to the rod housing dimensioned to accommodate the bone structure; and a deployable purchase element capable of assuming a deployed position in which the purchase element protrudes into the cavity, and capable of assuming a non-deployed pos...