ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 10 -- United States Patent no. 12,290,330, issued on May 6, was assigned to Covidien LP (Mansfield, Mass.).
"Surgical instrument apparatus, actuator, and drive" was invented by Perry A. Genova (Chapel Hill, N.C.) and Aki Hannu Einari Laakso (Raleigh, N.C.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A surgical instrument apparatus for performing a surgical procedure within a body cavity of a patient is disclosed and includes an elongate manipulator having a distal end for receiving an end effector and including a plurality of control links extending through the manipulator operable to cause movement of the distal end in response to movement of the control links in a longitudinal direc...