ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,310,619, issued on May 27, was assigned to SMITH & NEPHEW INC. (Memphis, Tenn.).
"Slotted canulla for arthroscopic surgery" was invented by Omer Mei-Dan (Boulder, Colo.) and Jacob Segil (Boulder, Colo.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A slotted cannula for surgical procedures is disclosed. The slotted cannula has an elongated semi-circular body comprising a cavity extending along a longitudinal axis of the semi-circular body, the cavity having an open distal end and an open proximate end and an integrally formed outward bend extending curvilinear from the cavity on the proximate end and at least one fold line across the width of the cannul...