Robotically-controlled end effector

Abstract

A surgical end effector can comprise a first jaw, a staple cartridge supported by the first jaw, wherein the staple cartridge comprises a plurality of staples removably stored therein, a second jaw comprising an anvil, wherein the second jaw is rotatable relative to the first jaw between an open position and a closed position, and wherein the anvil is configured to deform the staples when the staples are deployed from the staple cartridge. The surgical end effector can further comprise a sensor configured to detect when the anvil is in its closed position. The second jaw can be rotatable relative to the first jaw toward a closed position and the surgical end effector can comprise detection means for detecting if the anvil is in its closed position.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]The present application is a continuation application claiming priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13 / 372,195, filed on Feb. 13, 2012, entitled ROBOTICALLY-CONTROLLED END EFFECTOR, now U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012 / 0292367, which is a continuation-in-part application claiming priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13 / 118,272, filed on May 27, 2011, entitled ROBOTICALLY-CONTROLLED SURGICAL INSTRUMENT WITH FORCE-FEED CAPABILITIES, now U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011 / 0290856, which is a continuation-in-part application claiming priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12 / 949,099, filed on Nov. 18, 2010, entitled SURGICAL INSTRUMENT HAVING RECORDING CAPABILITIES, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,167,185, which issued on May 1, 2012, which is a continuation application claiming priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11 / 34...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

Facilitates failure analysis by recording operational conditions and enhances user acceptance by providing real-time feedback during cutting and stapling operations.

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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