A61B 17/1631
Special drive shafts
Official title: {Special drive shafts, e.g. flexible shafts (A61B17/1642, A61B17/164 take precedence)}
A61B17/1631 (Special drive shafts) appears on 709 US grants and 898 published applications in this corpus.
Search patents in A61B- Granted patents
- 709
- Published applications
- 898
- Assignees
- 284
- Inventors
- 1,126
- Latest grant
- 6 Oct 2026
Filings by year
| Year | Granted patents | Published applications |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 2 | 0 |
| 1982 | 0 | 0 |
| 1983 | 0 | 0 |
| 1984 | 0 | 0 |
| 1985 | 1 | 0 |
| 1986 | 0 | 0 |
| 1987 | 1 | 0 |
| 1988 | 2 | 0 |
| 1989 | 3 | 0 |
| 1990 | 0 | 0 |
| 1991 | 1 | 0 |
| 1992 | 0 | 0 |
| 1993 | 2 | 0 |
| 1994 | 0 | 0 |
| 1995 | 2 | 0 |
| 1996 | 4 | 0 |
| 1997 | 2 | 0 |
| 1998 | 2 | 0 |
| 1999 | 2 | 0 |
| 2000 | 4 | 0 |
| 2001 | 2 | 2 |
| 2002 | 9 | 15 |
| 2003 | 7 | 14 |
| 2004 | 7 | 8 |
| 2005 | 2 | 18 |
| 2006 | 5 | 14 |
| 2007 | 4 | 19 |
| 2008 | 6 | 13 |
| 2009 | 9 | 21 |
| 2010 | 9 | 28 |
| 2011 | 14 | 30 |
| 2012 | 14 | 45 |
| 2013 | 27 | 31 |
| 2014 | 30 | 42 |
| 2015 | 44 | 40 |
| 2016 | 32 | 36 |
| 2017 | 37 | 45 |
| 2018 | 29 | 54 |
| 2019 | 42 | 47 |
| 2020 | 57 | 60 |
| 2021 | 49 | 52 |
| 2022 | 56 | 61 |
| 2023 | 49 | 60 |
| 2024 | 54 | 41 |
| 2025 | 55 | 64 |
| 2026 | 32 | 38 |
By publication year. Applications have been published since 2001. 2026 runs to 8 Oct.
Recent patents
- Surgical system for positioning prosthetic component and/or for constraining movement of surgical tool6 Oct 2026US 12,751,774 B2MAKO Surgical Corp.
- Acetabular reamer handle and method of reaming an acetabulum15 Sep 2026US 12,733,940 B2Depuy Ireland Unlimited Company
- Limited-use surgical devices and limited-use disposable attachments for use with surgical devices25 Aug 2026US 12,714,442 B2Medtronic Xomed, Inc.
- Surgical system for positioning prosthetic component and/or for constraining movement of surgical tool25 Aug 2026US 12,714,516 B2MAKO Surgical Corp.
- Surgical system for positioning prosthetic component and/or for constraining movement of surgical tool25 Aug 2026US 12,714,517 B2MAKO Surgical Corp.
- Hip joint device and method3 Sep 2026US 2026/0256593 A1
- Rotary oscillating and reciprocating surgical tool27 Aug 2026US 2026/0248527 A1Globus Medical, Inc.
- Surgical instrument steering input device6 Aug 2026US 2026/0224319 A1Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc.
- Right angle drill, instrumentation, system and methods of use and assembly30 Jul 2026US 2026/0215791 A1Paragon 28, Inc.
- Guided milling device for prosthetic surgery16 Jul 2026US 2026/0198937 A1Limacorporate S P.A.
Most cited
By later US patents
- Moisture-detecting shaft for use with an electro-mechanical surgical device1,765US 7,951,071 B2Tyco Healthcare Group LP · 2011
- Flexible shaft1,751US 6,053,922 A2000
- Flexible shaft components1,670US 6,447,518 B12002
- Disposable remote flexible drive cutting apparatus1,590US 5,849,023 A1998
- Cannulated flexible drive shaft1,436US 8,366,559 B2Lenkbar, LLC · 2013