US Patent Issued to W. L. Gore & Associates on July 7 for "Tapered implantable device and methods for making such devices" (Arizona Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 7 -- United States Patent no. 12,672,949, issued on July 7, was assigned to W. L. Gore & Associates Inc. (Newark, Del.).

"Tapered implantable device and methods for making such devices" was invented by Edward H. Cully (Flagstaff, Ariz.), Jeffrey B. Duncan (Flagstaff, Ariz.), Marc A. Schlaud (Flagstaff, Ariz.) and Arthur R. Studley (Flagstaff, Ariz.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A tapered implantable device includes an ePTFE tubular member having a tapered length portion. The tapered length portion provides rapid recovery properties. The tapered length portion can feature a microstructure that includes a multiplicity of bent fibrils."

The patent was filed on Jan. 31, 20...