ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 12 -- United States Patent no. 12,295,879, issued on May 13.
"Tongue embracing oral retention device and method of manufacture" was invented by Howell Goldberg (Parkland, Fla.) and Daniel A. Zabaleta (Cooper City, Fla.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A tongue attachment assembly includes a sheath designed for attachment to a patient's tongue using a vacuum. An accessory attachment feature comprising a groove located between a flange and the distal end of the body of the sheath. Vacuum can be drawn through a valve or an external vacuum source. The tongue attachment assembly can be adapted for any of a variety of applications by selecting an appropriate accessory and attach...