Ethicon, Gmbh

Cilag International Gmbh

Ethicon Endo-surgery, Inc.

Other

Cllag Gmbh International

Mark D Overmyer

Frederick E Shelton, IV

Richard L Leimbach

Jason L Harris

Shane R Adams

Brett E Swensgard

Kevin L Houser

David C Yates

Jeffrey S Swayze

Thomas W Lytle, Iv

Robert L Koch, Jr

Kevin D Sackett

Christopher A Denzinger

Jerome R Morgan

Charles J Scheib

Andrew T Beckman

Omar J Vakharia

Joshua D Young

Wendy A Kerr

Brian F Dinardo

Raymond E Parfett

Kris Eren Kallenberger

Sol A Posada

Emily A Schellin

Jason E Zerkle

Craig S Smith

Chester O Baxter, Iii

Mark S Ortiz

Michael J Stokes

Richard F Schwemberger

John V Hunt

Christopher C Miller

William D Fox

John P Measamer

Christopher J Hess

Cory G Kimball

Michael S Cropper

Andrew M Zwolinski

Matthew S Corbin

Thomas Edward Albrecht

Jeffrey C Gagel

Johnny H Alexander, Iii

Tony C Siebel

James G Lee

Gregory J Bakos

William Bruce Weisenburgh, Ii

Taylor W Aronhalt

Mark S Zeiner

Jeffrey L Aldridge

Sean P Conlon

James Walden Voegele

Rudolph Henry Nobis

Galen C Robertson

Prasanna Malaviya

Aaron C Voegele

Daniel F Dlugos, Jr

Jason M Rector

James A Woodard, Jr

Catherine A Corbett

Alessandro Pastorelli

Michael J Vendely

Chad Paul Boudreaux

Foster B Stulen

Adam David Hensel

Brian D Black

Christopher W Widenhouse

Jonathan A Coe

Lauren S Weaner

Mark A Davison

David B Smith

Douglas B Hoffman

Zhifan F Huang

Douglas E Withers

Brian D Schings

Nicholas Fanelli

Joshua P Morgan

Michael D Auld

Thomas E Adams

John Scott Kimsey

Jeffrey David Messerly

Kevin Michael Fiebig

Thomas W Huitema

Anil K Nalagatla

Geoffrey S Strobl

Bret William Smith

Gregory A Trees

Michael E Setser

Kyle P Moore

Gavin Martin Monson

Morgan Robert Hunter

Daniel L Baber

Nathan Daniel Grubbs

Amy L Marcotte

Austin E Wise

Eric N Johnson

Kenneth C Miller

Kevin M Montgomery

Eric W Thompson

Gregory B Blair

Jeffery Kirk

A method for assessing performance of a surgical instrument including one or more drivetrains is disclosed. The method includes sensing via one or more vibration sensors vibrations generated during operation of the one or more drivetrains of the surgical instrument, generating an output signal based on the sensed vibrations, filtering the output signal to generate a filtered signal of the sensed vibrations from the one or more drivetrains, processing the filtered signal to generate a processed signal of the sensed vibrations from the one or more drivetrains, and comparing predetermined threshold values for each of an acceptable status, a marginal status, and a critical status of the surgical instrument to corresponding values of the processed signal.

Mechanisms for compensating for drivetrain failure in powered surgical instruments

A surgical tool includes a drive housing, a shaft extending from the drive housing and including an inner grounding shaft, an end effector coupled to the shaft and having opposing jaws, a firing rod extending within the inner grounding shaft and terminating at a cutting element, and an unclamp lockout mechanism provided within the drive housing and including a pawl rotatably mounted to the inner grounding shaft and pivotable between a stowed position, where the pawl is received within an aperture defined in the inner grounding shaft, and a deployed position, where the pawl protrudes out of the aperture, and a biasing device that biases the pawl toward the stowed position. When the pawl is in the stowed position, the pawl is received within a cutout defined by the firing rod, and moving the firing rod distally overcomes the biasing device and urges the pawl to the deployed position.

Unclamp lockout mechanism for a surgical tool

A surgical instrument. The surgical instrument includes an elongated channel configured to support a staple cartridge, an anvil pivotably connected to the elongated channel, a knife mechanically coupled to the staple cartridge, an electric motor and a control circuit electrically connected to the electric motor. The control circuit is configured to change a firing motion a first way based on a first value of a projected peak firing force and a second way based on a second value of the projected peak firing force value.

Surgical instrument with multiple program responses during a firing motion

A surgical instrument. The surgical instrument has a force delivery system which communicates a changing force to a user of the surgical instrument when a limit of a surgical function is reached. A sensor senses position of a moving element to communicate a signal to the force delivery system. In various embodiments, the system generates a vibratory force to signal the user.

Surgical instrument having force feedback capabilities

A surgical instrument includes a handle assembly, an elongate shaft, an end effector, and control system having a processor and a memory. The handle assembly is movable between a plurality of positions and includes an interface. The control system can cause the processor to toggle between a plurality of interface configurations each associated with one of the positions of the handle assembly. Additionally, or alternatively, the control system can toggle the interface between a primary interface configuration with operational controls and a secondary interface configuration with navigation controls. Additionally, or alternatively, the interface can include a touchscreen configured to provide a firing input signal to the processor. Additionally, or alternatively, a surgical assembly can include the surgical instrument and a remote operating unit with a secondary interface configured to control the end effector.

Surgical instrument with multiple interface configurations

A surgical system is disclosed. The surgical system comprises an end effector configured to move through a grasping motion, a motor configured to drive the grasping motion, an encoder configured to detect rotary positions, a load sensor configured to detect loads delivered, a position sensor configured to detect three-dimensional positions of the end effector, and a control circuit configured to receive a position parameter, a rotary parameter, and a load parameter, store the position parameter at the outset of the grasping motion, calculate an amount of work performed during the grasping motion while the position sensor detects the position of the end effector within a three-dimensional zone around the stored position parameter, transmit a work signal indicative of the amount of work performed, and reset the calculation of the amount of work performed when the position sensor detects a displacement of the end effector out of the three-dimensional zone.

Grasping work determination and indications thereof

A robotic surgical tool includes a tool driver including a first inductive coil, a drive housing releasably mounted to the tool driver and including a second inductive coil, a shaft extending from the drive housing and terminating at an end effector operatively coupled to a distal end of the shaft, and a firing rod extending from the drive housing within the shaft and terminating at the end effector, the firing rod including a magnetically responsive material and being movable within the drive housing between a retracted position and an extended position. One of the inductive coils generates a magnetic field, and the other measures an intensity of the magnetic field and a field distortion caused by movement of the firing rod. A change in the field distortion provides an indication of movement of the firing rod between the retracted and extended positions.

Manual knife bailout monitoring using inductive coupling

The present disclosure provides a surgical instrument including an end effector, a drive member movable to effectuate a motion in said end effector, a motor operable to move the drive member to effectuate the motion in the end effector and a bailout assembly operable to perform a mechanical bailout of the surgical instrument in response to a bailout error. The bailout assembly includes a bailout door, a bailout handle accessible through the bailout door. The bailout handle is operable to move the drive member to effectuate a bailout motion in the end effector. A controller includes a memory and a processor coupled to the memory. The processor is configured to detect the bailout error. The processor is programed to stop the motor in response to the detection of the bailout error.

Feedback algorithms for manual bailout systems for surgical instruments

A surgical instrument includes an end effector, a shaft assembly, a drive, and an activating mechanism. The end effector includes first and second jaws. At least one of the first and second jaws is pivotable relative to the other of the first and second jaws between open and closed positions. The shaft assembly extends proximally from the end effector. The drive is operatively connected to a portion of at least one of the end effector or the shaft assembly. The activating mechanism includes an actuation body operatively connected to the drive. The portion is configured to perform a first actuation profile in response to the actuation body moving along a first predetermined path or perform a second actuation profile in response to the actuation body moving along a second predetermined path. Selection of the first predetermined path is configured to prevent the actuation body from accessing the second predetermined path.

Selectable jaw closure of a robotic surgical system

A surgical tool includes a drive housing, a closure tube extending from the drive housing, and an end effector arranged at an end of the closure tube and having opposing jaws. A method of operating the surgical tool includes operating one or more motors in a first direction at a constant velocity and thereby urging the closure tube to move and actuate the opposing jaws to engage and clamp onto tissue, stopping operation of the motor(s) in the first direction when a torque on the motor(s) exceeds a predetermined torque, storing an angular position of the motor(s) when the torque exceeds the predetermined torque, operating the motor(s) in a second direction opposite the first direction over a preset angular magnitude, and upon reaching the preset angular magnitude, operating the motor(s) in the first direction at the constant velocity.

Pulsed closure control methods for surgical tools

A surgical instrument is configured to compensate for battery pack and drivetrain failures. One method includes generating a firing sequence, determining whether a subset of rechargeable battery cells is damaged during the firing sequence, and stepping-up an output voltage of the battery pack to complete the firing sequence in response to a determination that a subset of the rechargeable battery cells is damaged. Another method includes generating a mechanical output to motivate a drivetrain to transmit a motion to a jaw assembly of the surgical instrument, activating a safe mode in response to an acute failure of the drivetrain, and activating a bailout mode in response to a catastrophic failure of the drivetrain. Another method includes driving a drivetrain, sensing and recording vibration information from the drivetrain, generating an output signal based on the vibration information, and determining a status of the surgical instrument based on the output signal.

Technologies for detection of drive train failures in a surgical instrument

An end effector is disclosed comprising a cartridge channel, a staple cartridge positionable in the cartridge channel, and a firing assembly configured to lock itself if the staple cartridge is not positioned in the cartridge channel. Moreover, the firing assembly is configured to lock itself if the staple cartridge has been at least partially spent.

Shaft assembly comprising a lockout

The present disclosure provides a method for controlling a surgical instrument. The method includes connecting a power assembly to a control circuit, wherein the power assembly is configured to provide a source voltage, energizing, by the power assembly, a voltage boost convertor circuit configured to provide a set voltage greater than the source voltage, and energizing, by the voltage boost convertor, one or more voltage convertors configured to provide one or more operating voltages to one or more circuit components.

Systems and methods for controlling a segmented circuit

Surgical instruments and control systems therefor are disclosed. A surgical instrument can comprise: a power circuit comprising a power source and a switch, a microcontroller coupled to the power circuit, a handle comprising an attachment portion, and a control circuit in signal communication with the microcontroller. The attachment portion can comprise a first electrical contact in signal communication with the microcontroller. The control circuit can comprise a sensor configured to detect an attachment state of the attachment portion. The control circuit can communicate the detected attachment state to the microcontroller, and the microcontroller can ignore signals from the first electrical contact when the control circuit communicates a detached state. The attachment portion can comprise a second electrical contact coupled to a second power circuit, and the second power circuit can decouple the second electrical contact and the second power source when the sensor detects the detached state.

Control systems for surgical instruments

A surgical tool includes a drive housing removably coupled to a tool driver of a robotic surgical system, a shaft extending from the drive housing, an end effector arranged at an end of the shaft, and a computer system. The computer system is programmed to send a command signal to a motor of the tool driver to drive rotation of a drive shaft mounted within the drive housing, monitor torque and rotational motion of the motor with a torque sensor and a rotary encoder, respectively, in communication with the computer system, measure an unexpected change in the torque or the rotational motion of the motor with the torque sensor or the rotary encoder when the surgical tool is manually bailed out by manually rotating the drive shaft and backdriving the motor, report the unexpected change as a bailout signal, and disable the surgical tool once the bailout signal is received.

Disabling surgical tools due to manual bailout

Growing community of inventors

Cincinnati, OH, United States of America

Mark D Overmyer