ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 11 -- United States Patent no. 12,465,426, issued on Nov. 11, was assigned to 3D Systems Inc. (Rock Hill, S.C.).
"Customized surgical guides" was invented by Tarik Kramcha (Encinitas, Calif.), Riley R. Bruce (Denver), Tyler John York (Lakewood, Colo.) and Shelby Marks (Golden, Colo.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A surgical guide includes a metal guide and a plastic reference formed by additive manufacturing. The metal guide is configured to engage a bone surface of a first body area. The metal guide includes a main plate and an arm. The main plate has an inner surface customized and shaped to the bone surface. The main plate defines mounting guides for securing the main...