ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jan. 13 -- United States Patent no. 12,521,536, issued on Jan. 13, was assigned to Boston Scientific Scimed Inc. (Maple Grove, Minn.).
"Expandable dilator" was invented by Daniel Presteng (Santa Clara, Calif.), James M. Anderson (Corcoran, Minn.) and John M. Edgell (Plymouth, Minn.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An expandable dilator for use with an expandable sheath includes a shaft having a tapered distal tip, a body, a proximal end, and a lumen extending longitudinally from the distal tip to the proximal end. The expandable dilator includes an expansion mechanism extending radially outward from the outer surface of the shaft. When the expandable dilator is withdrawn proxim...