US Patent Issued to W. L. Gore & Associates on June 17 for "Stent having adjacent elements connected by flexible webs" (Arizona, Virginia Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 19 -- United States Patent no. 12,329,667, issued on June 17, was assigned to W. L. Gore & Associates Inc. (Newark, Del.).

"Stent having adjacent elements connected by flexible webs" was invented by Dustin C. Burkart (Bellemont, Ariz.), Edward H. Cully (Clarksville, Va.), Jeffrey B. Duncan (Flagstaff, Ariz.), Cody L. Hartman (Flagstaff, Ariz.) and James D. Silverman (Flagstaff, Ariz.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A stent incorporating flexible, preferably polymeric, connecting elements into the stent wherein these elements connect adjacent, spaced-apart stent elements. Preferably the spaced-apart adjacent stent elements are the result of forming the stent from a helical...