US Patent Issued to Globus Medical on June 3 for "Screw guide and tissue retractor instrument" (Pennsylvania, Maryland, Texas Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 4 -- United States Patent no. 12,318,096, issued on June 3, was assigned to Globus Medical Inc. (Audubon, Pa.).

"Screw guide and tissue retractor instrument" was invented by Michael Black (Phoenixville, Pa.), Gary Dix (Crownsville, Md.) and Carl Lauryssen (Austin, Texas).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An apparatus is provided for performing spinal surgery having a handle assembly, a screw guide, and a retractor. A shaft is provided with a handle, a neck portion and a connecting portion. The screw guide is provided with a connecting element coupled to the connecting portion of the handle assembly. A retractor for retracting tissue is coupled to the screw guide, wherein the...