ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 19 -- United States Patent no. 12,226,088, issued on Feb. 18, was assigned to Spinal Elements Inc. (Carlsbad, Calif.).
"Retractor" was invented by David Ortiz (Oceanside, Calif.), Kyle Elsabee (San Diego), Jason Blain (Encinitas, Calif.) and Tyson Vogel (San Diego).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A retractor for use in surgical operations comprises a pair of blade assemblies. In operation, the blade assemblies are initially in a closed position to assume a low profile, inserted into a relatively small incision, and stretched apart from each other, thereby stretching the skin about the incision to form an aperture longer than the incision. The retractor is adapted to rotate...