US Patent Issued to Thompson Surgical Instruments on Aug. 4 for "Surgical retractor system and snap joint clamp" (Michigan Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 5 -- United States Patent no. 12,697,108, issued on Aug. 4, was assigned to Thompson Surgical Instruments Inc. (Traverse City, Mich.).

"Surgical retractor system and snap joint clamp" was invented by Chris Martin (Empire, Mich.) and Steve Nowak (Traverse City, Mich.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A joint clamp for a surgical retractor system includes a knob, a lower clamp, one or more upper clamps between the lower clamp and the knob, and a bolt that passes through the one or more upper clamps. The lower clamp includes a spring, an upper portion, a lower portion pivotally coupled to the upper portion, and a clamping passage that passes laterally through the upper and low...