Robotically-controlled end effector

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a surgical instrument with a robotics system, a memory device and an end effector having an elongate channel, knife position sensor(s) and a firing bar coupled to a knife. In response to drive motions initiated by the robotics system, the firing bar may translate within the elongate channel. As the firing bar translates, the sensor(s) transmit a signal to the memory device. The position of the knife may be determined from the output signals and may be communicated to the robotics system or instrument user. The sensors may be Hall Effect sensors.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]The present application is a continuation-in-part application and claims the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13 / 118,272 filed on May 27, 2011, entitled “Robotically-Controlled Surgical Instrument with Force-Feed Capabilities” to Frederick E. Shelton, IV, Johns N. Ouwerkerk, and Eugene L. Timperman, which is a continuation-in-part of and claims the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12 / 949,099, filed on Nov. 18, 2010, entitled “Surgical Instrument Having Recording Capabilities” to Frederick E. Shelton, IV, John N. Ouwerkerk, and Eugene L. Timperman, which is a continuation of and claims the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11 / 343,803, filed on Jan. 31, 2006, entitled “Surgical Instrument Having Recording Capabilities” to Frederick E. Shelton, IV, John N. Ouwerkerk, and Eugene L. Timperman, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,845,537, which issued on Dec. 7, 2010, which are incorporated herein by reference in their respectiv...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011]In various embodiments, the sensor may comprise a plurality of sensors. The plurality of sensors may be Hall Effect sensors and the firing bar may have a magnetic element. The plurality of sensors may comprise two sensors positioned on an interior surface of an elongate channel; the first sensor may be positioned proximate to the translating magnetic element and the sec...

Problems solved by technology

Firing of the surgical stapler causes severing and stapling of the tissue.

If an insufficient amount of tissue is captured between opposing jaws, the jaws may draw too close together resulting in pinching at their distal ends.

Pinched jaws may not effectively form closed staples in the severed tissue.

At the other extreme, an excessive amount of tissue clamped between the jaws may cause binding and an incomplete firing.

In that case, the manufacturer may spend hundreds of man-hours analyzing a failed instrument and attempting to reconstruct the conditions under which it failed based only on the damage to the instrument.

It can be expensive and very challenging to analyze instrument failures in this way.

Also, many of these analyses simply conclude that the failure was due to improper use of the instrument.

Additionally, motor-driven surgical instruments generally do not provide sufficient user feedback during the cutting and stapling operations.

Consequently, motor-driven endocutters where the operations are actuated by merely pressing a button are generally not accepted by physicians.

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