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Friday, February 27, 2009
Patent Watch
New patents in prosthetics and cyberkinetics
MHT's Marc Songini: RI plans launch of cord blood center
Innerscope Research sensor vest tests biometric response to visual aids
Rodney Brown on NECN: Hacking into medical devices
This month let’s take a look at the fascinating world of new prosthetics via several fairly recent patents and published patent applications naming New England inventors.
• The idea behind neural prosthetic devices is a brain implant which could some day be used to operate external prostheses (and even electronic equipment such as computers). At least one New England resident, Edward Branchaud of Lawrence, is listed along with several California-based inventors in the California Institute of Technology’s published patent application No. 2008/0177196 (July 24) directed to a system and method for controlling neural prosthetic devices and electrophysiological recording equipment.
• Alexander Kokulis of Shrewsbury is seeking a patent for an electric guitar with buttons instead of strings so the guitar can be played by a person with a prosthesis. Patent application No. 2008/0173160 published on July 24.
• Wolfgang Fitz of Natick is a seeking a patent for a new glenoid prosthesis used in prosthetic shoulder joints. Application No. 2008/0208348 published on Aug. 28.
• A total knee arthroplasty means an artificial knee joint. Patent No. 7,387,644 (June 17) is for a new femoral component configured to provide desirable kinematic relationships with the tibial and/or patella components of the artificial knee joint in a manner which corresponds to the flexion and extension motion of a natural knee joint. The inventors, all from Vermont, are Bruce Beynnon and Stephen Incavo of South Burlington, and Kathryn Coughlin of Hinesburg. The University of Vermont located in Burlington is the owner of the patent.
• Endoprostheses such as stents are normally delivered to the desired site within a blood vessel via a catheter where a balloon is then used to expand the stent. No longer. Patent No. 7,399,311 (July 15) discloses a new system where the stent is self-expanding but held in a collapsed state about the catheter during delivery to the desired site in a vessel via a special adhesive which degrades when subject to a stimulus such as heated fluid or ultraviolet light. The inventors listed in this Boston Scientific Scimed Inc. patent are William Bertolino of Framingham, Andrew Campbell of Reading, and Steven Walak of Natick.
• If a child needs a hip prosthesis, then as the child grows additional surgeries are required to provide progressively larger prostheses. The idea behind Patent No. 7,481,841 (Jan. 27, 2009) is an adjustable child’s prosthesis which can later be lengthened via an external magnetic field so that new prostheses and additional surgeries are not required. Connecticut residents Charles Andrade Jr. of Westbrook, Joshua Murphy of Uncasville and Sheryl Andrade of Westbrook are included in the list of inventors. DePuy Products Inc. of Warsaw, Ind., is the assignee.
• Hernias are often repaired using knitted polypropylene mesh material, which may unfortunately stick to other tissue or organs. Patent No. 7,404,819 (July 29) proposes a new tissue and muscle and repair prosthesis including both repair fabric and a barrier layer made of a material that discourages tissue ingrowth and adhesion to keep the prosthesis from adhering to tissue or organs it was not designed to. This C.R. Bard Inc. patent lists as inventors Roger Darios of Foster, R.I.; Ronald Greene of Warwick, R.I.; Dennis Cherok of Harrisville, R.I.; Thomas Capuzziello of Milford, Mass.; and James Mello of North Dartmouth, Mass.
Kirk Teska is an adjunct law professor at Suffolk University Law School, and is the managing partner of Iandiorio, Teska & Coleman, an intellectual property law firm in Waltham. His book “Patent Savvy for Managers” is available online and in most major bookstores. He can be reached at kirk@iandorio.com.
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