NewGen Surgical, Inc. Awarded a U.S. Patent for Plant-based Surgical Skin Stapler

January 20, 2016–– San Rafael, California –– The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarded NewGen Surgical, Inc. with its first patent. Awarded for intellectual property for a surgical skin stapler optimized for construction with plant-based materials, the NGS35W Skin Stapler was commercially released in September 2015.

The NGS35W Skin Stapler delivers the same industry standard 35 wide surgical stainless steel staples surgeons are familiar with for routine skin closure, but with one difference – reliable performance designed around sustainability. The NGS35W Skin Stapler is made with 69% plant-based material and a 67% reduction in energy used for production, resulting in less plastic produced and discarded when compared to the same product made with plastic.

In the U.S., hospitals produce approximately 16,000 tons of waste per day, 30% from the O.R, and approximately 18 million single-use skin staplers are disposed of annually. By choosing a plant-based surgical skin stapler, hospitals can have a positive impact on the environment in an area that uses so many single-use devices. “There will be less plastic pollution when using the NGS35W Skin Stapler. And for many hospitals that are increasingly focused on green O.R. initiatives and environmentally preferable products, NewGen Surgical is committed to developing a number of future products to help offset the negative environmental impact of single-use devices,” said Rob Chase, Founder and President of NewGen Surgical.

“We are pleased with the NewGen Surgical intellectual property that was issued and feel this is indicative of the hard work and talent of our product development team,” said Dr. Barry Gardiner, Medical Director for the NGS35W Skin Stapler. “NewGen Surgical’s commitment to developing and manufacturing sustainably designed, single-use medical devices is meeting a demand in the market that is clearly growing.” Feedback on the NGS35W Skin Stapler has been positive from O.R. staff and physicians. Many appreciate the clinical performance while also using a single-use product they can feel good about. “This is something, as a surgeon, that is an easy change to make that will reduce waste in our environment,” said Dr. Gardiner.

Applying crade-to-cradle design considerations, NewGen Surgical uses a framework for discovery called Smart Sustainable DesignTM to reimagine surgical products. The intellectual property for the NGS35W Skin Stapler is derived by designing around the use of upcycled materials left over from the sugarcane harvest. “This patent is a good example of creating new intellectual property where most would consider this a commodity product,” added Chase.