US Patent Issued to Thompson Surgical Instruments on Sept. 1 for "Retractor system, swivel lock, and surgical retractor blade" (Michigan Inventor)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 1 -- United States Patent no. 12,721,615, issued on Sept. 1, was assigned to Thompson Surgical Instruments Inc. (Traverse City, Mich.).

"Retractor system, swivel lock, and surgical retractor blade" was invented by Steve Nowak (Traverse City, Mich.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A retractor system includes a retractor arm and a retractor blade attached to the retractor arm via a swivel gear of a retractor blade connector. The retractor blade includes an attachment post extending through a port of the swivel gear. The retractor blade connector further includes a swivel gear detent and a plunger. The swivel gear detent is positioned to selectively engage the swivel gear an...