US Patent Issued to BALLAST MEDICAL on May 6 for "Enhanced techniques for insertion and extraction of a bougie during gastroplasty" (Canadian Inventor)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 10 -- United States Patent no. 12,290,267, issued on May 6, was assigned to BALLAST MEDICAL INC. (Montreal, Canada).

"Enhanced techniques for insertion and extraction of a bougie during gastroplasty" was invented by Michel Gagner (Montreal, Canada).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An assembly including a bougie and a sheath for use in performing a gastroplasty for dividing a stomach of a patient into a sleeve receiving food and a bypass portion. The bougie includes an elongated body having a segment being shaped to follow a lesser curve of the stomach, and an extension member being movable within the stomach for positioning a distal portion thereof away from a gastroesophag...