ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 11 -- United States Patent no. 12,544,244, issued on Feb. 10, was assigned to UNIVERSITATSMEDIZIN DER JOHANNES GUTENBERG-UNIVERSITAT MAINZ (Mainz, Germany).
"Catheter" was invented by Marc Alexander Brockmann (Mainz, Germany) and Yasemin Tanyildizi (Frankfurt, Germany).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A catheter for insertion into a vessel (6) is designed at its free end (2) such that, in a first state, it is cylindrical and, in a second state, it has a conical shape, the largest diameter being associated with the peripheral end (2). The aim of the invention is that of providing a catheter of the type mentioned at the outset which avoids thrombus material trapped in a stent...