ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jan. 20 -- United States Patent no. 12,527,938, issued on Jan. 20, was assigned to W. L. Gore & Associates Inc. (Newark, Del.).
"Introducer sheath assembly having a locking dilator" was invented by Brian C. Holm (Mountain View, Calif.) and Shane P. Rogers (San Jose, Calif.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An introducer assembly includes a valve having a first end and an opposite second end; a sheath fixedly secured to and extending axially from one of the first and second ends of the valve; a dilator extending through the valve and sheath; and a lock knob rotatable between locked and unlocked positions to releasably axially lock the tool relative to the sheath without causing c...