ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 19 -- United States Patent no. 12,251,528, issued on March 18, was assigned to Becton Dickinson and Co. (Franklin Lakes, N.J.).
"Cannula with light-emitting optical fiber" was invented by S. Ray Isaacson (Layton, Utah), Ralph L. Sonderegger (Farmington, Utah) and Jonathan Karl Burkholz (Salt Lake City).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A catheter device to visually identify a blood vessel may include a cannula. The cannula may include a distal tip, an elongated tubular shaft, and an inner lumen formed by the elongated tubular shaft. The cannula may also include an optical fiber, which may be disposed within the inner lumen of the cannula. The optical fiber may include a dis...