ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 6 -- United States Patent no. 12,376,839, issued on Aug. 5, was assigned to TELEFLEX MEDICAL Inc. (Morrisville, N.C.).
"Laparoscopic port site closure tool" was invented by Richard M. Bennett III (Carmel, Ind.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A device is provided to assist in closing an incision through body tissue that comprises a tubular body sized for introduction through the incision and carrying a plurality of stabilizer elements at the distal end thereof. The stabilizer elements are configured to be deployed within the body cavity to engage the lowermost tissue layer. In one method, the device is pulled with the stabilizer elements deployed to retract the body tissue...