Cilag International Gmbh

Ethicon, Gmbh

Ethicon Endo-surgery, Inc.

Other

Benjamin D Dickerson

Charles J Scheib

Craig N Faller

Ryan M Asher

Jeffrey David Messerly

Barry C Worrell

Jacob Spencer Gee

Kristen G Denzinger

Paul F Riestenberg

Tylor C Muhlenkamp

William Bruce Weisenburgh, Ii

John A Hibner

Andrew T Beckman

David T Martin

Brian D Black

David James Cagle

David Alexander Monroe

Gregory W Johnson

Daniel J Mumaw

Ashvani K Madan

Travis Michael Schuh

Frederick L Estera

Jason Alan Hill

Chad Paul Boudreaux

Richard William Timm

Benjamin M Boyd

Cory G Kimball

Rafael J Ruiz Ortiz

Chester O Baxter, Iii

Foster B Stulen

Rudolph Henry Nobis

Richard C Smith

Craig T Davis

Spencer James Witte

David C Yates

Jeffrey S Swayze

Matthew C Miller

Geoffrey S Strobl

John B Schulte

Michael R Lamping

William A Olson

Joseph Daniel Dennis, Jr

Thomas C Gallmeyer

Joseph E Hollo

Michael J Stokes

Disha V Labhasetwar

Eric N Johnson

Jeffrey L Aldridge

Sean P Conlon

William D Dannaher

Amir Feriani

Jonathan T Batross

Ion V Nicolaescu

Aren Calder Hill

Karalyn R Tellio

Gregory J Bakos

Taylor W Aronhalt

Kevin Michael Fiebig

Daniel W Price

Steven G Hall

David A Witt

Jason R Lesko

Stephen M Leuck

Robert J Simms

Nathan Daniel Grubbs

Benjamin J Danziger

Shan Wan

Carl J Draginoff, Jr

Patrick Jarvis Scoggins

Clinton W Denlinger

Daniel James Prenger

Steven P Smolik

Phillip H Clauda

David C Groene

Matthew T Stone

Timothy S Holland

Monica L Zeckel

Eitan T Wiener

John V Hunt

Omar J Vakharia

Gregory A Trees

William Eugene Clem

Wells D Haberstich

William D Fox

Mark A Davison

Chad E Eckert

Stephen J Balek

Randal T Byrum

Joshua D Young

Brendan J Oberkircher

Gregory D Bishop

Yanan Huang

John A Weed, Iii

Ellen E Burkart

Amy M Krumm

Robert Brik

Candice Otrembiak

Mark E Tebbe

Disha V Estera

James M Wilson

A robotic surgical tool includes a handle providing a plurality of drive inputs, an elongate shaft including a plurality of sliding rack gears movably nested within a corresponding plurality of longitudinal channels defined along the shaft, and an end effector arranged at a distal end of the shaft and an articulable wrist interposing the end effector and the distal end. An actuation system housed in the handle actuates the drive inputs to move the sliding rack gears and thereby causes operation of at least one of the end effector and the wrist. A tailpiece is arranged at a proximal end of the shaft and is operably coupled to the sliding rack gears, the tailpiece includes a housing and a manual actuation device mounted to the housing and manually actuatable to act on the sliding rack gears and thereby operate at least one of the end effector and the wrist.

Surgical instruments with actuatable tailpiece

A robotic surgical tool includes a handle providing drive inputs and a shaft drive input, an instrument driver providing drive outputs and a shaft drive output, an elongate shaft extendable through the handle and the instrument driver, an end effector and a wrist arranged at a distal end of the shaft, a decoupler interposing the handle and the instrument driver, an insertion assembly mounted to the decoupler housing, and a differential gear train extending between the insertion assembly and each differential assembly included in the decoupler such that actuation of the insertion assembly correspondingly actuates each differential assembly as the shaft moves.

Insertion coupled inserting surgical instruments

An ultrasonic surgical instrument includes an inner tube, an outer tube, an ultrasonic blade, and a clamp member pivotably moveable relative to the ultrasonic blade. The ultrasonic blade is acoustically coupled to an ultrasonic transducer. The clamp member pivotably movable relative to the ultrasonic blade between an open configuration and an approximated configuration with respect to the ultrasonic blade, wherein the clamp member is pivotably coupled to the inner tube, wherein the clamp member is pivotably coupled to the outer tube, and wherein movement of the outer tube relative to the inner tube between the first position and the second position transitions the clamp member between the open configuration and the approximate configuration.

Actuation mechanisms and load adjustment assemblies for surgical instruments

A surgical apparatus comprises a body, an ultrasonic transducer, a shaft, an acoustic waveguide, an articulation section, an end effector, and an articulation drive assembly. The ultrasonic transducer is operable to convert electrical power into ultrasonic vibrations. The shaft couples the end effector and the body together. The acoustic waveguide is coupled with the transducer. The articulation section includes a collar that is located distal to a nodal portion of the waveguide and is operable to deflect the end effector away from the longitudinal axis. The end effector comprises an ultrasonic blade in acoustic communication with the ultrasonic transducer. The articulation drive assembly is operable to drive articulation of the articulation section. The articulation drive assembly comprises at least one translating articulation driver coupled with the collar. The ultrasonic blade is operable to deliver ultrasonic vibrations to tissue even when the articulation section is in an articulated state.

Articulation features for ultrasonic surgical instrument

A robotic surgical tool includes a handle providing a drive input, an elongate shaft extendable through the handle and having an end effector arranged at a distal end of the shaft, and an accumulator system housed within the handle and operatively coupled to the drive input such that actuation of the drive input operates the accumulator system. At least one drive cable is threaded through the accumulator system and extends distally along the shaft, wherein operation of the accumulator system acts on the at least one drive cable to operate the end effector.

Drive cable accumulation systems for robotic surgical tools

A surgical instrument includes a shaft assembly and an articulation control assembly. The shaft assembly includes an articulation section that is configured to deflect a distal end portion from the longitudinal axis. The articulation control assembly includes an articulation control member and a transmission assembly. The articulation control member is rotatably mounted relative to the shaft assembly. The transmission assembly is operatively connected between the articulation control member and the articulation section of the shaft assembly. The transmission assembly is configured to transmit selective manipulation of the articulation control member to the articulation section and selectively actuate the articulation section. The articulation control assembly is configured to lock without selective manipulation of the articulation control member to thereby inhibit actuation of the articulation section and unlock with selective manipulation of the articulation control member to thereby actuate the articulation section.

Surgical instrument with locking articulation drive wheel

A robotic surgical tool includes a handle and an instrument driver releasably coupled to the handle, an elongate shaft extendable through the handle and the instrument driver, and a decoupler interposing the handle and the instrument driver. The decoupler includes an insertion assembly actuatable to move the shaft, an insertion transmission gear driven by the insertion assembly, and a dwell slip clutch including an input clutch gear and an output clutch gear, the dwell slip clutch being movable between collapsed and expanded states. A lockout ring extends about the decoupler housing, and a latch ring extends about the decoupler housing and is axially offset from the lockout ring. Fully retracting the shaft moves the dwell slip clutch to the compressed state to drive the output clutch gear against the lockout ring, thereby enabling latch ring to move to an unlocked position that separates the handle from the instrument driver.

Insertion lockouts for surgical instruments

An apparatus comprises a body assembly, a shaft, an acoustic waveguide, an articulation section, an end effector, an articulation drive assembly, and a locking feature. The shaft extends distally from the body assembly. The waveguide comprises a flexible portion. The articulation drive assembly is operable to drive articulation of the articulation section to thereby deflect the end effector from the longitudinal axis of the shaft. The articulation drive assembly comprises an actuator. The actuator is movable relative to the body assembly to drive articulation of the articulation section. The locking feature is in communication with the actuator. The locking feature is movable between an unlocked state and a locked state. The locking feature is configured to permit movement of the actuator relative to the body assembly in the unlocked state. The locking feature is configured to prevent movement of the actuator relative to the body assembly in the locked state.

Ultrasonic surgical instrument with articulation joint having plurality of locking positions

A robotic surgical tool includes a shaft extendable through a handle, an end effector arranged at a distal end of the shaft and including a first and second jaws providing first and second jaw extension, a plurality of drive members extending along the shaft and actuatable by the handle, and an articulable wrist interposing the end effector and the distal end. The wrist includes a proximal clevis, a distal clevis rotatably coupled to the proximal clevis, first and second pulleys rotatably mounted to the distal clevis, the first jaw extension being pinned to the first pulley and the second jaw extension being pinned to the second pulley, and a linkage mounted to the jaws. The plurality of drive members terminate at the first and second pulleys and are antagonistically operable to open and close the jaws and articulate the end effector in pitch and yaw.

Multi-function actuation and articulation end effectors

An ultrasonic surgical instrument includes an end effector with an ultrasonic blade, an acoustic waveguide, an ultrasonic transducer assembly, and a carrier. At least a proximal portion of the acoustic waveguide extends along a longitudinal axis. The ultrasonic transducer assembly is operatively coupled with the acoustic waveguide. The carrier is configured to translate the end effector. The carrier includes a carriage and a translation driver. The carriage movably supports the ultrasonic transducer assembly along the longitudinal axis. The translation driver is configured to translate the carriage and the ultrasonic transducer assembly along the longitudinal axis so that the ultrasonic transducer assembly moves from a proximal position along the longitudinal axis to a distal position along the longitudinal axis for inserting the ultrasonic blade into a patient.

Surgical instrument and carrier kart supporting ultrasonic transducer

A robotic surgical tool includes an elongate shaft extendable through a handle that provides a drive input, an actuation system housed within the handle and operatively coupled to the drive input such that actuation of the drive input operates the actuation system, a rocker bar system arranged at a proximal end of the shaft and actuatable to articulate an end effector at a distal end of the shaft, and first and second drive cables extending along a portion of the shaft, each drive cable having a proximal end anchored to the shaft proximal to the handle and a distal end anchored to the shaft distal to the handle, wherein the drive cables are threaded through portions of the actuation and rocker bar systems such that operation of the actuation system acts on the drive cables and thereby actuates the rocker bar system to articulate the end effector.

Surgical tools with proximally mounted, cable based actuation systems

An ultrasonic surgical instrument comprises a shaft assembly including a waveguide, and an end effector arranged at a distal end of the shaft assembly and including an ultrasonic blade and a clamp arm. The instrument also comprises a base translatably coupled to shaft assembly. The base includes a first mechanical input and a second mechanical input. The instrument further comprises a closure actuation mechanism operatively connected between the first mechanical input and the clamp arm and configured to actuate the clamp arm from an open position toward a closed position upon selective drive of the first mechanical input. The instrument also includes an insertion actuation mechanism operatively connected between the second mechanical input and the shaft assembly and configured to actuate the shaft assembly from a proximal position toward a distal position upon selective drive of the second mechanical input for insertion of the end effector.

Ultrasonic surgical instrument with a mid-shaft closure system and related methods

A robotic surgical tool for a robotic instrument driver that includes a handle having a first end, at least one spline rotatably coupled to the handle and extending proximally from the first end, a carriage movably mounted to the at least one spline and including a first layer and a second layer operatively coupled to the first layer. At least one spline extends through a portion of at least one of the first and second layers and the carriage translates along the at least one spline. The robotic surgical tool also includes an elongate shaft extending from the carriage and penetrating the first end, the shaft having an end effector arranged at a distal end thereof and an activating mechanism coupled to one or both of the first and second layers and actuatable to operate a function of the end effector.

Instrument insertion carriage for robotic surgical tools

A method of operating an articulatable surgical instrument. The method includes providing a rotary drive motion to a rotary drive member of a surgical end effector and converting the rotary drive motion to an upper axial motion and a lower axial motion at locations that are distal to the articulation joint. The method further includes applying the upper axial motion to an upper portion of a firing member and applying the lower axial motion to a lower portion of the firing member such that the upper axial motion and lower axial motion drives the firing member distally through the surgical end effector from a starting position to an ending position.

Method of operating a surgical instrument

Surgical instruments that comprise an axially movable firing member that is configured to be driven between a starting position and an ending position within a surgical end effector of the surgical instrument by an upper an upper chain-drive assembly and a lower chain-drive assembly.

Surgical instruments with flexible ball chain drive arrangements

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Cincinnati, OH, United States of America

Benjamin D Dickerson