ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,414,784, issued on Sept. 16, was assigned to Penumbra Inc. (Alameda, Calif.).

"Apparatus and methods for controlled clot aspiration" was invented by Scott Teigen (West Fargo, N.D.), Steven Loisel (Castro Valley, Calif.), Stephen Pons (Alameda, Calif.) and Ben Tompkins (Danville, Calif.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A dynamic aspiration system includes a connecting tube, a vacuum source, a pressure source, an aspiration catheter, a first controllable valve to control a level of negative pressure provided by the vacuum source, a second controllable valve to control a level of positive pressure provided by the pressure source, pressure se...