ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 31 -- United States Patent no. 12,508,051, issued on Dec. 30, was assigned to TERUMO K.K. (Tokyo).
"Puncture needle" was invented by Masahiro Ishida (Kanagawa, Japan).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A puncture needle includes: an outer needle including a lumen extending in an axial direction; an outer needle hub joined to a proximal end portion of the outer needle; an inner needle located in the lumen of the outer needle; a switching mechanism configured to switch between a first state in which a needle tip of the puncture needle is sharp and a second state in which the needle tip of the puncture needle is blunt by displacing the inner needle in the axial direction; and a ...