Surgical instrument ports configured for use with wound retractors

ChangeBridge: Patent Grants - Medical Devices (A61M)

Published April 7th, 2026

Detected April 7th, 2026

Summary

The USPTO granted patent US12594408B2 to Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. covering surgical instrument ports designed for use with wound retractors. The patent protects a surgical port featuring a channel through an end face to receive a surgical instrument cannula, with a lateral wall enclosing an open volume. The wound retractor end portion engages the inner surface of the lateral wall, with the port configured to abut a body wall in an inserted position.

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What changed

The USPTO issued patent grant US12594408B2 to Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc., covering surgical ports with channels designed to receive surgical instrument cannulas. The patented device includes a lateral wall extending around the perimeter of an end face, enclosing an open volume configured to receive a wound retractor end portion in engagement with an inner surface of the lateral wall.

This patent grant confers exclusive rights to Intuitive Surgical for the claimed surgical port technology through the patent term. Competitors developing wound retractor ports with similar configurations may need to design around this patent or evaluate licensing options. Medical device manufacturers in the surgical instrumentation space should review their product portfolios for potential overlap with these claims.

What to do next

No immediate action required - monitor for potential infringement implications

Source document (simplified)

← USPTO Patent Grants

Surgical instrument ports configured for use with wound retractors, and related devices and methods

Grant US12594408B2 Kind: B2 Apr 07, 2026

Assignee

Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc.

Inventors

Brian M. Crews, Sam Crews, Craig R. Gerbi, Michael Hurst, Sumona Adhya

Abstract

A surgical port includes an end face comprising a channel extending through the end face, the channel having a cross section shaped to receive a surgical instrument cannula, and a lateral wall extending around a perimeter of the end face, the lateral wall and end face enclosing an open volume. An end portion of a wound retractor is received in the open volume of the surgical port and in engagement with an inner surface of the lateral wall, and the surgical port is configured to abut a body wall in an inserted position of the wound retractor through the body wall.