Patents by Inventor Howard C. Tang

Howard C. Tang has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20160113757
    Abstract: Methods and devices are provided for anchoring a ligament or tendon to bone. In one embodiment, a surgical implant is provided having a sheath and an expander that is received within the sheath. Various delivery tools, including a sheath inserter and a driver, are also provided. In use, the sheath inserter can be used to position a tendon within a prepared bone hole, and it can be used to deliver the sheath with a guidewire coupled thereto into the bone hole. The driver can be provided for delivering the expander into the sheath. A loader can optionally be used to load the driver and expander onto the guidewire coupled to the implanted sheath.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 30, 2015
    Publication date: April 28, 2016
    Inventors: David R. Diduch, Mark H. Getelman, Gerome Miller, Jacob A. Marks, Matthew J. Ravenscroft, Mehmet Z. Sengun, Howard C. Tang, Gregory R. Whittaker
  • Patent number: 9198653
    Abstract: A surgical filament snare assembly including an anchor capable of being fixated in bone and having a filament engagement feature. A first filament has a noose with first and second noose limbs connected, preferably slidably connected, to the filament engagement feature of the anchor. The first and second noose limbs emerge from the anchor as first and second free filament limbs which are capable of being passed through tissue to be repaired and then passable through the noose. The noose, such as one or more half-hitches, is capable of receiving the free filament limbs and strangulating them when tension is applied to at least one of the free filament limbs and the noose to enable incremental tensioning of the tissue after the anchor is fixated. Preferably, the snare assembly further includes a flexible sleeve joining at least some portion of the first and second free filament limbs to facilitate passing of the free filament limbs at least through the tissue as a single unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 1, 2015
    Assignee: MEDOS INTERNATIONAL SÀRL
    Inventors: Mehmet Ziya Sengun, Howard C. Tang, David B. Spenciner
  • Publication number: 20150012038
    Abstract: A surgical filament snare assembly including an anchor capable of being fixated in bone and having a filament engagement feature. A first filament has a noose with first and second noose limbs connected, preferably slidably connected, to the filament engagement feature of the anchor. The first and second noose limbs emerge from the anchor as first and second free filament limbs which are capable of being passed through tissue to be repaired and then passable through the noose. The noose, such as one or more half-hitches, is capable of receiving the free filament limbs and strangulating them when tension is applied to at least one of the free filament limbs and the noose to enable incremental tensioning of the tissue after the anchor is fixated. Preferably, the snare assembly further includes a flexible sleeve joining at least some portion of the first and second free filament limbs to facilitate passing of the free filament limbs at least through the tissue as a single unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 31, 2014
    Publication date: January 8, 2015
    Inventors: Mehmet Ziya Sengun, Howard C. Tang, David B. Spenciner
  • Publication number: 20140343607
    Abstract: A surgical filament snare assembly including an anchor capable of being fixated in bone and having a filament engagement feature. A first filament has a noose on a first portion of at least a first limb and has a second portion connected to the filament engagement feature of the anchor. Preferably, at least one free filament limb, which in some embodiments is a length of the first filament and in other embodiments is a second filament, is capable of being passed through tissue to be repaired and has at least one end passable through the noose to enable incremental tensioning of the tissue after the anchor is fixated in bone. The noose strangulates the free filament limb when tension is applied to at least one of the free filament limb and the noose.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 31, 2014
    Publication date: November 20, 2014
    Inventors: Mehmet Ziya Sengun, Howard C. Tang, David B. Spenciner, Gregory R. Whittaker, Gerome Miller
  • Publication number: 20140277132
    Abstract: Surgical constructs and methods are provided for securing soft tissue to bone. One exemplary embodiment of a construct is formed from a suture filament and includes two terminal ends of filament and an intermediate portion disposed along at least a portion of a length extending between the terminal ends. The construct can have a first terminal end that is the first terminal end of the filament, and a second terminal end that includes a loop. The loop can be formed by disposing the second terminal end of the filament within a volume of a portion of the intermediate portion of the filament. In some disclosed methods, both terminal ends of the filament can be passed through tissue when performing soft tissue repairs. Various other embodiments of constructs and methods are provided, including constructs having two or more filaments associated with an anchor and methods of using such constructs.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 31, 2013
    Publication date: September 18, 2014
    Inventors: Mehmet Z. Sengun, Howard C. Tang, Gregory R. Whittaker