ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 9 -- United States Patent no. 12,268,384, issued on April 8, was assigned to DePuy Synthes Products Inc. (Raynham, Mass.).
"Joining element" was invented by Joerg Mayer (Oberdorf, Switzerland), Jochen Ganz (Oberdorf, Switzerland), Beat Keller (Oberdorf, Switzerland) and Ralph Hertel (Oberdorf, Switzerland).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Disclosed is a joining element (10), especially a suture material for surgical use. The joining element (10) is composed of a first material (12) that is essentially rigid during impingement by a relatively short-lasting tensile load on opposite sides as well as a second material (11) which is connected to the first material. The second m...