ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 9 -- United States Patent no. 12,268,634, issued on April 8.
"Flexible/expandable phacoemulsification tip" was invented by William F. Wiley (Chagrin Falls, Ohio).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A phacoemulsification cutting tip, including a rigid tubular portion and a flexible and expandable tip portion located distal to the rigid tubular portion. The flexible and expandable tip portion presents an axial length and an unexpanded radius and is formed such that the axial length shortens while the unexpanded radius increases when differential pressure due to an occlusion of an opening of the flexible tip portion exists."
The patent was filed on Sept. 1, 2021, under Applicat...