ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 26 -- United States Patent no. 12,256,916, issued on March 25, was assigned to NuVasive Inc. (San Diego).
"Surgical retractor system and methods of use" was invented by Leonel A. Hunt (San Diego), Gabriel E. Hunt (San Diego), Drew Schifle (San Diego), Greg Causey (San Diego) and Alan Burkholder (San Diego).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Provided is a surgical retractor system and method. The surgical retractor includes an elongate element defining an operational axis, a first blade secured to the elongate element and comprising a blade face, a second blade moveably secured to the elongate element, wherein the second blade defines a reference point located thereon, and wh...