Cilag International Gmbh

Ethicon Endo-surgery, Inc.

Ethicon, Gmbh

Cilag Cmbh International

Zhifan F Huang

Frederick E Shelton, IV

Jason L Harris

Timothy G Dietz

David A Witt

Jeffrey L Aldridge

Chad Paul Boudreaux

Foster B Stulen

Richard L Leimbach

Gregory J Bakos

Geoffrey C Hueil

David B Smith

Patrick A Weizman

Jeffrey S Swayze

Prasanna Malaviya

Jerome R Morgan

Richard William Timm

Cory G Kimball

Gregory W Johnson

John V Hunt

David Keith Norvell

Andrew T Beckman

Matthew C Miller

Omar J Vakharia

Michael E Setser

Gavin Martin Monson

Gregory G Scott

Nicholas J Ross

Ryan J Laurent

Taylor W Aronhalt

Geoffrey S Strobl

Bret William Smith

Craig N Faller

Gregory A Trees

David T Martin

Tamara S Widenhouse

Christopher J Hess

Shane R Adams

Michael J Stokes

Barry C Worrell

Thomas W Huitema

Shailendra Kumar Parihar

Emily A Schellin

James R Giordano

Mary E Mootoo

Raymond M Banks

Dean B Bruewer

Carl J Draginoff, Jr

Joseph Charles Hueil

Paul B Guerra

Nichole Y Kwee

Steven P Smolik

Pierre R Mesnil

Brian D Schings

Christopher J Schall

Robert J Simms

Robert J Laird

Christopher Q Seow

John F Cummings

Al Mirel

Disha V Estera

Stephen J Balek

Daniel L Baber

Sora Rhee

Aron O Zingman

John Kevin Bruce

Michael P Weir

Tyler N Brehm

Bradley E White

Austin J Bridges

William Eugene Clem

Morgan Robert Hunter

Adam David Hensel

Donna L Korvick

Michael A Murray

John E Brady

Jason R Lesko

Scott A Woodruff

Paul T Franer

Sudhir B Patel

Kevin M Montgomery

Demetrius N Harris

Matthew D Cowperthwait

Kevin A Larson

Ellen E Burkart

James G Lee

Emron Jackson Henry

Sol A Posada

Gary S Jaworek

Tamara S Vetro Widenhouse

Gwendolyn Perez Payne

Hector Chow

Michael A Jacobs

Mark Richard Shaw

Monica L Z Rivard

Rebecca J Gettinger

Devanathan Raghavan

Patrick M Schleitweiler

Suzanne E Thompson

Nina Mastroianni

Various embodiments are directed to articulatable surgical instruments. Some embodiments comprise an end effector to treat tissue, where the end effector comprises an ultrasonic blade. A hollow shaft may extend proximally from the end effector along a longitudinal axis. A waveguide may extend through the shaft and may be acoustically coupled to the ultrasonic blade. The waveguide may comprise a distally positioned flange positioned within the hollow shaft proximally from the blade and may be held stationary at a first pivot point positioned within the hollow shaft proximally from the flange. A reciprocating wedge may be positioned within the hollow shaft such that distal motion of the wedge pushes the wedge between the flange and the hollow shaft, causing the ultrasonic blade to pivot about the first pivot point in a first direction.

Surgical instruments with articulating shafts

A surgical stapling instrument includes first and second jaws, a sensor assembly, and a controller. The controller detects that the jaws have been actuated from closed position to open position and back to closed position, and derives, from a first signal from the sensor assembly, a current distance between the distal ends of the jaws. Upon determining firing immediately preceding actuation of the jaws, the controller adjusts a camber adjustment value based on the current distance. Upon determining no firing immediately preceding actuation of the jaws and closing of the jaws with tissue grasped, the controller adjusts the tissue thickness measurement based on the camber adjustment value and controls the next firing based thereon. Upon determining no firing immediately preceding actuation of the jaws and that closing of the jaws with no tissue grasped therein, the controller adjusts the camber adjustment value based on the current measurement of the distance.

Continuous track of tissue gap for cambering adjustment and accurate tissue measurement

A method of distributing data among members of a surgical team may include receiving imaging data, by a modular control tower, from a plurality of imaging devices, receiving device-dependent data, by the modular control tower, from each of a plurality of intelligent surgical instruments, associating, by the modular control tower, a display device with a member of the surgical team, defining, by the modular control tower, a functional role for the member of the surgical team, and displaying, by the modular control tower, a augmented reality display by the display device. The augmented reality display on the display device may include virtual objects based on the imaging data, the device-dependent data, the functional role of the member of the surgical team, and a surgical activity by the member of the surgical team. An interactive surgical system may implement this method.

Customization of overlaid data and configuration

A surgical instrument comprising an articulatable end effector and an articulation control system is disclosed. The articulation control system comprises actuators that, when actuated, cause the end effector to articulate in predetermined directions. When the end effector is rotated downwardly, the articulation control system flips, or switches, the response to the inputs from the actuators.

Stapling instrument comprising a mounted shaft orientation sensor

A system for stapling tissue is disclosed. The system can include a channel and a compatible staple cartridge comprising a plurality of staples. The channel and the compatible staple cartridge comprise mating or cooperating alignment features for permitting complete insertion of the compatible staple cartridge and for preventing an incompatible staple cartridge from being completely inserted in the channel.

Surgical staple cartridge alignment features

An apparatus includes a staple, a body, a staple driver, and an alignment feature. The alignment feature is coupled to or formed with at least one of the staple driver or an inner surface of the staple aperture of the body. The alignment feature is configured to minimize rotation of the staple driver. The alignment feature includes at least one of a first contact feature, an alignment member, an alignment member, or an inwardly tapering portion. The first contact feature projects beyond a first lateral side of the staple driver. The alignment member extends through at least a portion of the staple driver. The first connecting portion rigidly connects the inner surface of the staple aperture with the staple driver in a connected state. The inwardly tapering portion of the inner surface or the staple driver is configured to guide the staple driver.

Surgical stapler cartridge with 3D printable features

An apparatus includes an adjunct body and a plurality of movable members. The adjunct body defines an adjunct surface for contacting a tissue, and the adjunct body is configured to overlie and directly contact a deck of a surgical stapler. The plurality of movable members are coupled with the adjunct body, and each movable member of the plurality of movable members is individually operable to move from a first configuration to a second configuration in response to a firing operation of a surgical stapler. The movable members in the first configuration are configured to couple the adjunct body with the deck, and the movable members in the second configuration are configured to enable the adjunct body to separate from the deck.

Displaceable adjunct attachment features for surgical stapler

A surgical stapler having an end effector, a firing drive electric motor, and a control circuit is disclosed. The firing drive electric motor is configured to actuate a staple firing stroke of the end effector. The control circuit can be configured to provide a pulse width modulated (PWM) electrical signal to the firing drive electric motor and adjust a duty cycle of the PWM electrical signal based at least in part on a speed of the staple firing stroke. The control circuit can further be configured to provide a pulse width modulated (PWM) electrical signal to the firing drive electric motor, adjust a duty cycle of the PWM electrical signal based at least in part on a target speed of a staple firing stroke, and lower the target speed in response to the duty cycle exceeding a safety threshold value.

Surgical stapler with pulse width modulated driven adjustable speed staple firing stroke

A surgical stapling system comprising an instrument interface comprising a control circuit and an RFID reader is disclosed. The surgical stapling system further comprises a shaft assembly comprising a shaft and an end effector. The end effector comprises a first jaw, a second jaw, an anvil, and a cartridge channel. The surgical stapling system further comprises a replaceable staple cartridge assembly removably positioned within the cartridge channel. The replaceable staple cartridge assembly comprises a cartridge body, a longitudinal slot, a plurality of staple cavities, a plurality of staples, and a staple cartridge retainer. The staple cartridge retainer comprises a rib, a body portion, and an RFID tag embedded within the body portion, wherein the RFID tag comprises a memory, wherein the memory comprises identifier information stored in the memory specific to the staple cartridge, and wherein the identifier information is accessible by the RFID reader.

Staple cartridge identification systems

A surgical stapling instrument comprising a tissue cutting knife movable through a staple cartridge to perform a staple firing stroke is disclosed. The stapling instrument further comprises a lockout system configured to prevent the tissue cutting knife from being moved through the staple firing stroke if the staple cartridge is missing from the stapling instrument and/or if the staple cartridge has been previously fired. The lockout system comprises a flexible spring that acts on the bottom of the tissue cutting knife at the initiation of the staple firing stroke to push the tissue cutting knife into a lockout recess if the staple cartridge is missing or has been previously fired.

Stapling instrument comprising a firing lockout

In various embodiments, a surgical instrument can comprise an end effector including a staple cartridge and a datum portion positioned proximal to the staple cartridge. The surgical instrument can further comprise a shaft and an articulation joint configured to articulate the end effector relative to the shaft. In addition, the surgical instrument can further comprise a firing member configured to deploy a plurality of staples from the staple cartridge and a drive assembly including a drive member configured to move the firing member. The drive assembly may also include a stop configured to engage the datum portion to limit the movement of the drive member after the plurality of staples are fired.

Surgical stapling instrument with an articulatable end effector

An adjunct configured for use with an end effector of a surgical stapler includes a tissue-effecting portion comprising a first material, and at least one movable attachment feature coupled to the tissue-effecting portion and comprising a second material different from the first material. The at least one movable attachment feature is configured to releasably attach the tissue-effecting portion to a stapling surface of the end effector. The tissue-effecting portion is configured to contact tissue clamped by the end effector during closure thereof. The tissue-effecting portion is further configured to be pierced and captured by staples ejected from the end effector into the clamped tissue and thereby reinforce the engagement between the ejected staples and the clamped tissue.

Discrete adjunct attachment features for surgical stapler

A surgical instrument assembly comprising a shaft assembly, an articulation actuator, a firing member, and an articulation joint is disclosed. The articulation joint comprises an articulation support member. The surgical instrument assembly further comprises an end effector assembly comprising, a first jaw, a second jaw, and a distal spine portion, wherein the articulation support member is configured to laterally support the firing member during articulation of the end effector assembly relative to the shaft assembly. The distal spine portion comprises a distal support structure comprising a firing member slot and a lateral channel defined therein. The surgical instrument assembly further comprises an electrical system comprising an electrical lead extending through the articulation support member and through the lateral channel into the end effector assembly.

Electrical lead arrangements for surgical instruments

A surgical stapling instrument comprising a cartridge jaw configured to receive a staple cartridge, an anvil jaw, and a firing member configured to eject the staples from the staple cartridge during a firing stroke is disclosed. The anvil jaw comprises a stop extending into the cartridge jaw which prevents the staple cartridge from contacting the firing member when the staple cartridge is inserted into the cartridge jaw.

Stapling instrument comprising a staple cartridge insertion stop

Various embodiments are directed to articulatable surgical instruments and surgical systems comprising articulatable surgical instruments. Some embodiments comprise an end effector to comprising an ultrasonic blade. A hollow shaft may extend proximally from the end effector along a longitudinal axis. The hollow shaft may comprise a rigid portion and a flexible portion at a first position on the longitudinal axis distal from the rigid portion. A waveguide may extend through the shaft and may be acoustically coupled to the ultrasonic blade. The waveguide may comprise a flexible portion at the first position on the longitudinal axis such that the end effector is pivotable away from the longitudinal axis from the first position.

Growing community of inventors

Mason, OH, United States of America

Zhifan F Huang