The ridged band is believed to be an anatomically distinct part of the foreskin. John R. Taylor, a Canadian pathologist and medical researcher, first described the ridged band at the Second International Symposium on Circumcision, organized by NOCIRC in San Francisco, 1991, after examining the foreskins of 12 dead infants. The term "ridged band" was subsequently used by Taylor in an anatomical and histological study of the foreskin published in the British Journal of Urology in 1996. Most or all of the ridged band is removed by circumcision.