The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 07, 2019
Filed:
Jun. 02, 2017
Centerline Medical, Llc, Redwood City, CA (US);
Marcos T. Contreras, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Ronald G. Williams, Menlo Park, CA (US);
Centerline Medical, LLC, Redwood City, CA (US);
Abstract
Articulation devices, such as comprising pull rings, are provided having improved or increased visibility under conventional visualization techniques, such as fluoroscopy. Such improved visibility is achieved by the presence of at least one insert comprised of a material that is more visible or detectable under imaging techniques than the pull ring. The at least one insert is positionable within a cut-out in the articulation device and fixed into place by a suitable method such as adhesive, soldering, swaging, welding, laser welding, etc. The insert resides within the dimensions of the walls of the pull ring so as to not increase the outer diameter or decrease the inner diameter of the pull ring. This maintains the profile of the overall articulation device. Thus, the one or more inserts can improve the radiopacity of the pull ring, allowing the pull ring to be more visible and more easily identifiable under fluoroscopy than a conventional pull ring without negatively altering other features such as tensile strength or overall dimensions of the pull ring.