On May 11, 2021, the USPTO issued US Patent Number 11,000,000. Over the past 25 years, the number of U.S. patents has effectively doubled.
U.S. Patent No. 11,000,000 is one of a family of inventions owned by 4C Medical Tech. of Minneapolis directed to heart surgery tools. The inventors are Saravana Kumar and Jason Diedering. The patent claims a method of delivering and also repositioning a prosthetic heart-valve (AltaValve) that is used to repair a leaky-valve issue experienced by several million Americans (typically over age 75).
The invention itself is quite simple — basically, there is a catheter tube with a set of wire pairs. Each pair includes one wire with a looped end and a second with a straight end. The pairs work together to deliver, release, and position the prosthetic valve within the heart. The claims were rejected as obvious and then allowed after a fairly minor amendment.
From the USPTO: https://www.uspto.gov/about-us/news-updates/united-states-issues-patent-number-11000000
May 11, 2021