ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,311,122, issued on May 27, was assigned to Neptune Medical Inc. (Burlingame, Calif.).
"Rigidizing overtube with hemostasis valve" was invented by Alexander Q. Tilson (Burlingame, Calif.), Stephen J. Morris (Sunnyvale, Calif.), Garrett J. Gomes (Pleasant Hill, Calif.), Adam S. Wigginton (Sunnyvale, Calif.), Mark C. Scheeff (Oakland, Calif.) and Charles S. Love (Santa Barbara, Calif.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A rigidizing device includes an elongate flexible tube having a lumen extending therethrough, a variable stiffness layer, a bladder layer configured to push against the variable stiffness layer when pressure is applied, and a hem...