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US-12622721-B2 - Surgical instrument assembly

US12622721B2US 12622721 B2US12622721 B2US 12622721B2US-12622721-B2

Abstract

Methods of operating a surgical instrument are disclosed herein.

Inventors

  • Frederick E. Shelton, IV
  • Shane R. Adams
  • Nicholas J. Ross
  • Jason L. Harris
  • Sudhir B. Patel

Assignees

  • CILAG GMBH INTERNATIONAL

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20240514

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A surgical instrument assembly, comprising: a shaft; an end effector attached to the shaft; a sub-component system configured to experience strain within the surgical instrument assembly; a woven conductive fabric attached to the sub-component system, wherein the woven conductive fabric comprises: a primary body portion; and a plurality of conductive fibers extending through the primary body portion; and a control circuit configured to monitor a resistance of the woven conductive fabric and determine a load on the sub-component system based on the resistance of the woven conductive fabric.
  2. 2 . The surgical instrument assembly of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of conductive fibers are interwoven into the primary body portion.
  3. 3 . The surgical instrument assembly of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of conductive fibers are wired in parallel.
  4. 4 . The surgical instrument assembly of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of conductive fibers are wired in series.
  5. 5 . The surgical instrument assembly of claim 1 , wherein the woven conductive fabric is attached to a grounded location within the shaft.
  6. 6 . The surgical instrument assembly of claim 1 , wherein each conductive fiber of the plurality of conductive fibers comprises a different material.
  7. 7 . The surgical instrument assembly of claim 1 , wherein the woven conductive fabric comprises a first woven conductive fabric, wherein the first woven conductive fabric is configured to measure load applied to the sub-component system in a first plane, wherein the surgical instrument assembly further comprises a second woven conductive fabric configured to measure load applied to the sub-component system in a second plane.
  8. 8 . The surgical instrument assembly of claim 1 , wherein the resistance of the woven conductive fabric is configured to correspond to displacement of the sub-component system.
  9. 9 . A surgical instrument assembly, comprising: a shaft; an articulation joint; an end effector attached to the shaft by way of the articulation joint; a firing member comprising: a plurality of bands attached to each other; and a plurality of conductive fabrics; wherein each band comprises a conductive fabric attached thereto; and a control circuit configured to monitor a resistance of each conductive fabric to measure a parameter of each band.
  10. 10 . The surgical instrument assembly of claim 9 , wherein each conductive fabric comprises a plurality of conductive fibers.
  11. 11 . The surgical instrument assembly of claim 9 , wherein each band comprises an electrical contact positioned on a proximal end thereof.
  12. 12 . The surgical instrument assembly of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of conductive fabrics comprises a plurality of conductive textiles.
  13. 13 . The surgical instrument assembly of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of conductive fabrics comprises a plurality of metalized conductive fabrics.
  14. 14 . A surgical instrument, comprising: a shaft; a sub-component system configured to experience strain within the surgical instrument; a woven conductive fabric attached to the sub-component system, the woven conductive fabric comprising: a body portion; and a plurality of conductive fibers extending through the body portion; and a control circuit configured to monitor a resistance of the woven conductive fabric and determine a load on the sub-component system based on the resistance of the woven conductive fabric.
  15. 15 . The surgical instrument of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of conductive fibers comprises a first portion in which the plurality of conductive fibers are oriented in a first direction and a second portion in which the plurality of conductive fibers are oriented in a second direction which is different from the first direction.
  16. 16 . The surgical instrument of claim 15 , wherein the first direction is orthogonal to the second direction.
  17. 17 . The surgical instrument of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of conductive fibers comprises a first portion attached to a first region of the sub-component system and a second portion attached to a second region of the sub-component system which is different from the first region.
  18. 18 . The surgical instrument of claim 17 , wherein the first region is stiffer than the second region, wherein the first portion is used to measure a force in the sub-component system, and wherein the second portion is used to measure a strain in the sub-component system.
  19. 19 . The surgical instrument of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of conductive fibers comprises a first portion attached to a first sub-component of the sub-component system and a second portion attached to a second sub-component of the sub-component system which is different from the first sub-component.
  20. 20 . The surgical instrument of claim 19 , wherein the first sub-component comprises a first layer of a firing member and the second sub-component comprises a second layer of the firing member.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION The application is a continuation application claiming priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/895,264, entitled METHOD FOR OPERATING A SURGICAL INSTRUMENT, filed Jun. 8, 2020, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,986,201, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 (e) to U.S. Provisional patent application Ser. No. 62/955,306, entitled SURGICAL INSTRUMENT SYSTEMS, filed Dec. 30, 2019, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. BACKGROUND The present invention relates to surgical instruments and, in various arrangements, to surgical stapling and cutting instruments and staple cartridges for use therewith that are designed to staple and cut tissue. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Various features of the embodiments described herein, together with advantages thereof, may be understood in accordance with the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings as follows: FIG. 1 is a plan view of a surgical instrument assembly comprising a shaft, an end effector attached to the shaft, and a stretchable optical waveguide attached to the shaft and a firing member; FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of the surgical instrument assembly of FIG. 1 illustrated with components removed; FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a surgical instrument assembly comprising the shaft and the end effector of FIG. 1 and a stretchable optical waveguide attached to the shaft and a knife body; FIG. 4 is an elevational view of a surgical instrument assembly comprising the shaft and the end effector of FIG. 1 and a stretchable optical waveguide attached to the end effector and the knife body, wherein the knife body is illustrated in a home position; FIG. 5 is an elevational view of the surgical instrument assembly of FIG. 4, wherein the knife body is illustrated in an end-of-stroke position; FIG. 6 is an elevational view of the surgical instrument assembly of FIG. 4, wherein the end effector is articulated relative to the shaft; FIG. 7A is a partial perspective view of a surgical instrument assembly comprising a shaft, an actuation member, and a sensing system configured to sense a parameter of the actuation member; FIG. 7B is an end view of the surgical instrument assembly of FIG. 7A; FIG. 8 is a partial elevational view of a surgical instrument assembly comprising a shaft, an actuation member, and a sensing system comprising Hall effect sensors configured to detect the position of the actuation member; FIG. 9 is graph of the position of the actuation member of FIG. 8 relative to a motor position; FIG. 10 is a graph of an expected voltage of the Hall effect sensors of FIG. 8 relative to the motor position; FIG. 11 is a graph including the graphs of FIGS. 9 and 10 and an example of an actual readout of the Hall effect sensors of FIG. 8 during an actuation stroke; FIG. 12 is a graph of an actuation stroke of an actuation member measured by a motor encoder and a graph of the actuation stroke of the actuation member measured by a stretchable optical waveguide; FIG. 13 is a partial perspective view of a surgical instrument assembly comprising a shaft, an end effector attached to the shaft by way of an articulation joint, and a flex circuit comprising a stretchable zone and a non-stretchable zone; FIG. 14 is an elevational view of a stretchable zone of the flex circuit of FIG. 13 in a non-stretched configuration; FIG. 15 is an elevational view of a stretchable zone of the flex circuit of FIG. 13 in a stretched configuration; FIG. 16 is an elevational view of a flex circuit comprising a stretchable zone comprising elastic strut members, wherein the stretchable zone is illustrated in a non-stretched configuration; FIG. 17 is an elevational view of the flex circuit of FIG. 16, wherein the stretchable zone is illustrated in a stretched configuration; FIG. 18 is an elevational view of the flex circuit of FIG. 16, wherein the stretchable zone is illustrated in a non-stretched configuration; FIG. 19 is a perspective view of a surgical instrument assembly, illustrated with components removed, comprising a shaft and a flex circuit extending through the shaft, wherein the flex circuit comprises a pre-bent section; FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view of the flex circuit of FIG. 19; FIG. 21 is a perspective view of a surgical instrument assembly, illustrated with components removed, comprising a shaft and a flex circuit extending through the shaft, wherein the flex circuit comprises a pre-bent section; FIG. 22 is a cross-sectional view of the flex circuit of FIG. 21; FIG. 23 is a perspective view of a surgical instrument assembly, illustrated with components removed, comprising a shaft and a flex circuit extending through the shaft, wherein the flex circuit comprises a pre-bent section; FIG. 24 is a cross-sectional view of the flex circuit of FIG. 23; FIG. 25 is a plan view of a surgical instrument assembly, illustrated with components removed, comprising