ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 12 -- United States Patent no. 12,295,872, issued on May 13, was assigned to ABSORBENT LLC (Houston).
"Sinus tract expander system and method of treatment thereby" was invented by Abel Smerica (Conroe, Texas) and Joseph Edmonds (Houston).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A tract expander includes a base having a threaded central hole and a plurality of wings. The base and the wings are connected by a plurality of hinges. Each of the plurality of hinges is connected to the base and to a wing of the plurality of wings so that each wing moves relative to the base. A threaded shaft includes a tip. The tip diameter is larger than the threaded shaft diameter and the threaded shaft...