ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 16 -- United States Patent no. 12,357,745, issued on July 15, was assigned to Boston Scientific Scimed Inc. (Maple Grove, Minn.).
"Tissue closure" was invented by Gary Jordan (Litchfield, N.H.), Barry Weitzner (Acton, Mass.) and Michael Zupkofska (Rockland, Mass.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A device for fastening tissue includes (a) a shaft extending longitudinally from a distal end insertable into a body to a proximal end attached to a controller which remains outside of the body, the shaft including a lumen extending therethrough and an opening extending through a wall of a distal portion thereof to open the lumen to an exterior of the shaft; (b) a first roller hous...