US Patent Issued to TC1 on June 24 for "Catheter pump" (California, Tennessee Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 25 -- United States Patent no. 12,337,165, issued on June 24, was assigned to TC1 LLC (St. Paul, Minn.).

"Catheter pump" was invented by Keif M. Fitzgerald (San Jose, Calif.), Richard L. Keenan (Livermore, Calif.) and William J. Harrison (Signal Mountain, Tenn.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A catheter pump includes an elongate cannula with a formed mesh structure extending cylindrically between opposing ends thereof. The formed mesh structure defines a pattern configured to be stably expandable and collapsible without fracturing in a percutaneous delivery and re-sheathing in the provision of mechanical circulatory support of a patient's heart."

The patent was filed on ...