ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 18 -- United States Patent no. 12,324,572, issued on June 10, was assigned to Vertos Medical Inc. (Aliso Viejo, Calif.).

"Integrated instrument assembly" was invented by James Dinh (Irvine, Calif.), Phillip A. Thompson (Pawnee, Ill.), Dennis Schroeder (Los Angeles), Brian Roselauf (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) and David P. Lalor Jr. (Mission Viejo, Calif.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Systems, devices, and methods for performing minimally invasive spinal procedures are described herein. The systems, devices, and methods may be used to percutaneously access the spinal canal and perform a spinal procedure in multiple locations along the canal, e.g., bilaterally and/or ...