ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 19 -- United States Patent no. 12,329,885, issued on June 17, was assigned to Alcon Inc. (Fribourg, Switzerland).
"Enhanced stiffening implement for a surgical tool" was invented by Reto Gruebler (Greifensee, Switzerland), Bernhard Pultar (Winterthur, Switzerland) and Klaus Dorawa (Kiel, Germany).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A surgical tool with an elongated implement of enhanced stiffening character due to the use of a stiffening coating and/or a lumen of inconsistent diameter. The stiffening coating may be supplied by a deposition technique utilizing materials tailored to biocompatibility, stiffening and even to reducing glare. The lumen of inconsistent diameter may i...