Patent Grant
12144518
The present disclosure relates to various surgical systems.
In various aspects, a surgical stapling instrument comprising an end effector is disclosed. The end effector comprises a first jaw and a second jaw movable relative to the first jaw between an open configuration and a closed configuration to grasp tissue between the first jaw and the second jaw. The end effector further comprises an anvil and a staple cartridge. The staple cartridge comprises staples deployable into the tissue and deformable by the anvil. The surgical stapling system further comprises a control circuit. The control circuit is configured to determine tissue impedances at predetermined zones, detect an irregularity in tissue distribution within the end effector based on the tissue impedances, and adjust a closure parameter of the end effector in accordance with the irregularity.
In various aspects, a surgical stapling instrument for stapling a previously-stapled tissue is disclosed. The surgical stapling instrument comprises a shaft defining a longitudinal axis extending there through, and an end effector extending from the shaft. The end effector comprises a first jaw and a second jaw movable relative to the first jaw between an open configuration and a closed configuration to grasp tissue between the first jaw and the second jaw. The end effector further comprises an anvil and a staple cartridge. The staple cartridge comprises staples deployable into the previously-stapled tissue and deformable by the anvil. The end effector further comprises predetermined zones between the anvil and the staple cartridge. The surgical stapling instrument further comprises a circuit. The circuit is configured to measure tissue impedances at the predetermined zones, compare the measured tissue impedances to a predetermined tissue impedance signature of the predetermined zones, and detect an irregularity in at least one of position and orientation of the previously-stapled tissue within the end effector from the comparison.
In various aspects, a surgical stapling instrument comprising an end effector is disclosed. The end effector comprises a first jaw and a second jaw movable relative to the first jaw between an open configuration and a closed configuration to grasp tissue between the first jaw and the second jaw. The end effector further comprises an anvil and a staple cartridge. The staple cartridge comprises staples deployable into the tissue and deformable by the anvil. The end effector further comprises predetermined zones between the anvil and the staple cartridge. The surgical stapling instrument further comprises a control circuit. The control circuit is configured to determine an electrical parameter of the tissue at each of the predetermined zones, detect an irregularity in tissue distribution within the end effector based on the determined electrical parameters, and adjust a closure parameter of the end effector in accordance with the irregularity.
The features of various aspects are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The various aspects, however, both as to organization and methods of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings as follows.
Applicant of the present application owns the following U.S. patent applications, filed on Jun. 29, 2018, the disclosure of each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety:
Applicant of the present application owns the following U.S. Provisional Patent applications, filed on Jun. 28, 2018, the disclosure of each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety:
Applicant of the present application owns the following U.S. patent applications, filed on Mar. 29, 2018, the disclosure of each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety:
Applicant of the present application owns the following U.S. patent applications, filed on Mar. 29, 2018, the disclosure of each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety:
Applicant of the present application owns the following U.S. patent applications, filed on Mar. 29, 2018, the disclosure of each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety:
Applicant of the present application owns the following U.S. Provisional Patent applications, filed on Mar. 28, 2018, the disclosure of each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety:
Applicant of the present application owns the following U.S. Provisional Patent application, filed on Apr. 19, 2018, the disclosure of each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety:
Applicant of the present application owns the following U.S. Provisional Patent applications, filed on Mar. 30, 2018, the disclosure of each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety:
Applicant of the present application owns the following U.S. Provisional Patent applications, filed on Mar. 8, 2018, the disclosure of each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety:
Applicant of the present application owns the following U.S. Provisional Patent applications, filed on Dec. 28, 2017, the disclosure of each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety:
Before explaining various aspects of surgical devices and generators in detail, it should be noted that the illustrative examples are not limited in application or use to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings and description. The illustrative examples may be implemented or incorporated in other aspects, variations and modifications, and may be practiced or carried out in various ways. Further, unless otherwise indicated, the terms and expressions employed herein have been chosen for the purpose of describing the illustrative examples for the convenience of the reader and are not for the purpose of limitation thereof. Also, it will be appreciated that one or more of the following-described aspects, expressions of aspects, and/or examples, can be combined with any one or more of the other following-described aspects, expressions of aspects and/or examples.
Referring to
Other types of robotic systems can be readily adapted for use with the surgical system 102. Various examples of robotic systems and surgical tools that are suitable for use with the present disclosure are described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/611,339, titled ROBOT ASSISTED SURGICAL PLATFORM, filed Dec. 28, 2017, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Various examples of cloud-based analytics that are performed by the cloud 104, and are suitable for use with the present disclosure, are described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/611,340, titled CLOUD-BASED MEDICAL ANALYTICS, filed Dec. 28, 2017, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
In various aspects, the imaging device 124 includes at least one image sensor and one or more optical components. Suitable image sensors include, but are not limited to, Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) sensors and Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) sensors.
The optical components of the imaging device 124 may include one or more illumination sources and/or one or more lenses. The one or more illumination sources may be directed to illuminate portions of the surgical field. The one or more image sensors may receive light reflected or refracted from the surgical field, including light reflected or refracted from tissue and/or surgical instruments.
The one or more illumination sources may be configured to radiate electromagnetic energy in the visible spectrum as well as the invisible spectrum. The visible spectrum, sometimes referred to as the optical spectrum or luminous spectrum, is that portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that is visible to (i.e., can be detected by) the human eye and may be referred to as visible light or simply light. A typical human eye will respond to wavelengths in air that are from about 380 nm to about 750 nm.
The invisible spectrum (i.e., the non-luminous spectrum) is that portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that lies below and above the visible spectrum (i.e., wavelengths below about 380 nm and above about 750 nm). The invisible spectrum is not detectable by the human eye. Wavelengths greater than about 750 nm are longer than the red visible spectrum, and they become invisible infrared (IR), microwave, and radio electromagnetic radiation. Wavelengths less than about 380 nm are shorter than the violet spectrum, and they become invisible ultraviolet, x-ray, and gamma ray electromagnetic radiation.
In various aspects, the imaging device 124 is configured for use in a minimally invasive procedure. Examples of imaging devices suitable for use with the present disclosure include, but not limited to, an arthroscope, angioscope, bronchoscope, choledochoscope, colonoscope, cytoscope, duodenoscope, enteroscope, esophagogastro-duodenoscope (gastroscope), endoscope, laryngoscope, nasopharyngo-neproscope, sigmoidoscope, thoracoscope, and ureteroscope.
In one aspect, the imaging device employs multi-spectrum monitoring to discriminate topography and underlying structures. A multi-spectral image is one that captures image data within specific wavelength ranges across the electromagnetic spectrum. The wavelengths may be separated by filters or by the use of instruments that are sensitive to particular wavelengths, including light from frequencies beyond the visible light range, e.g., IR and ultraviolet. Spectral imaging can allow extraction of additional information the human eye fails to capture with its receptors for red, green, and blue. The use of multi-spectral imaging is described in greater detail under the heading “Advanced Imaging Acquisition Module” in U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/611,341, titled INTERACTIVE SURGICAL PLATFORM, filed Dec. 28, 2017, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. Multi-spectrum monitoring can be a useful tool in relocating a surgical field after a surgical task is completed to perform one or more of the previously described tests on the treated tissue.
It is axiomatic that strict sterilization of the operating room and surgical equipment is required during any surgery. The strict hygiene and sterilization conditions required in a “surgical theater,” i.e., an operating or treatment room, necessitate the highest possible sterility of all medical devices and equipment. Part of that sterilization process is the need to sterilize anything that comes in contact with the patient or penetrates the sterile field, including the imaging device 124 and its attachments and components. It will be appreciated that the sterile field may be considered a specified area, such as within a tray or on a sterile towel, that is considered free of microorganisms, or the sterile field may be considered an area, immediately around a patient, who has been prepared for a surgical procedure. The sterile field may include the scrubbed team members, who are properly attired, and all furniture and fixtures in the area.
In various aspects, the visualization system 108 includes one or more imaging sensors, one or more image-processing units, one or more storage arrays, and one or more displays that are strategically arranged with respect to the sterile field, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
In one aspect, the hub 106 is also configured to route a diagnostic input or feedback entered by a non-sterile operator at the visualization tower 111 to the primary display 119 within the sterile field, where it can be viewed by a sterile operator at the operating table. In one example, the input can be in the form of a modification to the snapshot displayed on the non-sterile display 107 or 109, which can be routed to the primary display 119 by the hub 106.
Referring to
Referring now to
During a surgical procedure, energy application to tissue, for sealing and/or cutting, is generally associated with smoke evacuation, suction of excess fluid, and/or irrigation of the tissue. Fluid, power, and/or data lines from different sources are often entangled during the surgical procedure. Valuable time can be lost addressing this issue during a surgical procedure. Detangling the lines may necessitate disconnecting the lines from their respective modules, which may require resetting the modules. The hub modular enclosure 136 offers a unified environment for managing the power, data, and fluid lines, which reduces the frequency of entanglement between such lines.
Aspects of the present disclosure present a surgical hub for use in a surgical procedure that involves energy application to tissue at a surgical site. The surgical hub includes a hub enclosure and a combo generator module slidably receivable in a docking station of the hub enclosure. The docking station includes data and power contacts. The combo generator module includes two or more of an ultrasonic energy generator component, a bipolar RF energy generator component, and a monopolar RF energy generator component that are housed in a single unit. In one aspect, the combo generator module also includes a smoke evacuation component, at least one energy delivery cable for connecting the combo generator module to a surgical instrument, at least one smoke evacuation component configured to evacuate smoke, fluid, and/or particulates generated by the application of therapeutic energy to the tissue, and a fluid line extending from the remote surgical site to the smoke evacuation component.
In one aspect, the fluid line is a first fluid line and a second fluid line extends from the remote surgical site to a suction and irrigation module slidably received in the hub enclosure. In one aspect, the hub enclosure comprises a fluid interface.
Certain surgical procedures may require the application of more than one energy type to the tissue. One energy type may be more beneficial for cutting the tissue, while another different energy type may be more beneficial for sealing the tissue. For example, a bipolar generator can be used to seal the tissue while an ultrasonic generator can be used to cut the sealed tissue. Aspects of the present disclosure present a solution where a hub modular enclosure 136 is configured to accommodate different generators, and facilitate an interactive communication therebetween. One of the advantages of the hub modular enclosure 136 is enabling the quick removal and/or replacement of various modules.
Aspects of the present disclosure present a modular surgical enclosure for use in a surgical procedure that involves energy application to tissue. The modular surgical enclosure includes a first energy-generator module, configured to generate a first energy for application to the tissue, and a first docking station comprising a first docking port that includes first data and power contacts, wherein the first energy-generator module is slidably movable into an electrical engagement with the power and data contacts and wherein the first energy-generator module is slidably movable out of the electrical engagement with the first power and data contacts.
Further to the above, the modular surgical enclosure also includes a second energy-generator module configured to generate a second energy, different than the first energy, for application to the tissue, and a second docking station comprising a second docking port that includes second data and power contacts, wherein the second energy-generator module is slidably movable into an electrical engagement with the power and data contacts, and wherein the second energy-generator module is slidably movable out of the electrical engagement with the second power and data contacts.
In addition, the modular surgical enclosure also includes a communication bus between the first docking port and the second docking port, configured to facilitate communication between the first energy-generator module and the second energy-generator module.
Referring to
In one aspect, the hub modular enclosure 136 comprises a modular power and communication backplane 149 with external and wireless communication headers to enable the removable attachment of the modules 140, 126, 128 and interactive communication therebetween.
In one aspect, the hub modular enclosure 136 includes docking stations, or drawers, 151, herein also referred to as drawers, which are configured to slidably receive the modules 140, 126, 128.
In various aspects, the smoke evacuation module 126 includes a fluid line 154 that conveys captured/collected smoke and/or fluid away from a surgical site and to, for example, the smoke evacuation module 126. Vacuum suction originating from the smoke evacuation module 126 can draw the smoke into an opening of a utility conduit at the surgical site. The utility conduit, coupled to the fluid line, can be in the form of a flexible tube terminating at the smoke evacuation module 126. The utility conduit and the fluid line define a fluid path extending toward the smoke evacuation module 126 that is received in the hub enclosure 136.
In various aspects, the suction/irrigation module 128 is coupled to a surgical tool comprising an aspiration fluid line and a suction fluid line. In one example, the aspiration and suction fluid lines are in the form of flexible tubes extending from the surgical site toward the suction/irrigation module 128. One or more drive systems can be configured to cause irrigation and aspiration of fluids to and from the surgical site.
In one aspect, the surgical tool includes a shaft having an end effector at a distal end thereof and at least one energy treatment associated with the end effector, an aspiration tube, and an irrigation tube. The aspiration tube can have an inlet port at a distal end thereof and the aspiration tube extends through the shaft. Similarly, an irrigation tube can extend through the shaft and can have an inlet port in proximity to the energy deliver implement. The energy deliver implement is configured to deliver ultrasonic and/or RF energy to the surgical site and is coupled to the generator module 140 by a cable extending initially through the shaft.
The irrigation tube can be in fluid communication with a fluid source, and the aspiration tube can be in fluid communication with a vacuum source. The fluid source and/or the vacuum source can be housed in the suction/irrigation module 128. In one example, the fluid source and/or the vacuum source can be housed in the hub enclosure 136 separately from the suction/irrigation module 128. In such example, a fluid interface can be configured to connect the suction/irrigation module 128 to the fluid source and/or the vacuum source.
In one aspect, the modules 140, 126, 128 and/or their corresponding docking stations on the hub modular enclosure 136 may include alignment features that are configured to align the docking ports of the modules into engagement with their counterparts in the docking stations of the hub modular enclosure 136. For example, as illustrated in
In some aspects, the drawers 151 of the hub modular enclosure 136 are the same, or substantially the same size, and the modules are adjusted in size to be received in the drawers 151. For example, the side brackets 155 and/or 156 can be larger or smaller depending on the size of the module. In other aspects, the drawers 151 are different in size and are each designed to accommodate a particular module.
Furthermore, the contacts of a particular module can be keyed for engagement with the contacts of a particular drawer to avoid inserting a module into a drawer with mismatching contacts.
As illustrated in
In various aspects, the imaging module 138 comprises an integrated video processor and a modular light source and is adapted for use with various imaging devices. In one aspect, the imaging device is comprised of a modular housing that can be assembled with a light source module and a camera module. The housing can be a disposable housing. In at least one example, the disposable housing is removably coupled to a reusable controller, a light source module, and a camera module. The light source module and/or the camera module can be selectively chosen depending on the type of surgical procedure. In one aspect, the camera module comprises a CCD sensor. In another aspect, the camera module comprises a CMOS sensor. In another aspect, the camera module is configured for scanned beam imaging. Likewise, the light source module can be configured to deliver a white light or a different light, depending on the surgical procedure.
During a surgical procedure, removing a surgical device from the surgical field and replacing it with another surgical device that includes a different camera or a different light source can be inefficient. Temporarily losing sight of the surgical field may lead to undesirable consequences. The module imaging device of the present disclosure is configured to permit the replacement of a light source module or a camera module midstream during a surgical procedure, without having to remove the imaging device from the surgical field.
In one aspect, the imaging device comprises a tubular housing that includes a plurality of channels. A first channel is configured to slidably receive the camera module, which can be configured for a snap-fit engagement with the first channel. A second channel is configured to slidably receive the light source module, which can be configured for a snap-fit engagement with the second channel. In another example, the camera module and/or the light source module can be rotated into a final position within their respective channels. A threaded engagement can be employed in lieu of the snap-fit engagement.
In various examples, multiple imaging devices are placed at different positions in the surgical field to provide multiple views. The imaging module 138 can be configured to switch between the imaging devices to provide an optimal view. In various aspects, the imaging module 138 can be configured to integrate the images from the different imaging device.
Various image processors and imaging devices suitable for use with the present disclosure are described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,995,045, titled COMBINED SBI AND CONVENTIONAL IMAGE PROCESSOR, which issued on Aug. 9, 2011, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 7,982,776, titled SBI MOTION ARTIFACT REMOVAL APPARATUS AND METHOD, which issued on Jul. 19, 2011, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, describes various systems for removing motion artifacts from image data. Such systems can be integrated with the imaging module 138. Furthermore, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0306840, titled CONTROLLABLE MAGNETIC SOURCE TO FIXTURE INTRACORPOREAL APPARATUS, which published on Dec. 15, 2011, and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0243597, titled SYSTEM FOR PERFORMING A MINIMALLY INVASIVE SURGICAL PROCEDURE, which published on Aug. 28, 2014, the disclosure of each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Modular devices 1a-1n located in the operating theater may be coupled to the modular communication hub 203. The network hub 207 and/or the network switch 209 may be coupled to a network router 211 to connect the devices 1a-1n to the cloud 204 or the local computer system 210. Data associated with the devices 1a-1n may be transferred to cloud-based computers via the router for remote data processing and manipulation. Data associated with the devices 1a-1n may also be transferred to the local computer system 210 for local data processing and manipulation. Modular devices 2a-2m located in the same operating theater also may be coupled to a network switch 209. The network switch 209 may be coupled to the network hub 207 and/or the network router 211 to connect to the devices 2a-2m to the cloud 204. Data associated with the devices 2a-2n may be transferred to the cloud 204 via the network router 211 for data processing and manipulation. Data associated with the devices 2a-2m may also be transferred to the local computer system 210 for local data processing and manipulation.
It will be appreciated that the surgical data network 201 may be expanded by interconnecting multiple network hubs 207 and/or multiple network switches 209 with multiple network routers 211. The modular communication hub 203 may be contained in a modular control tower configured to receive multiple devices 1a-1n/2a-2m. The local computer system 210 also may be contained in a modular control tower. The modular communication hub 203 is connected to a display 212 to display images obtained by some of the devices 1a-1n/2a-2m, for example during surgical procedures. In various aspects, the devices 1a-1n/2a-2m may include, for example, various modules such as an imaging module 138 coupled to an endoscope, a generator module 140 coupled to an energy-based surgical device, a smoke evacuation module 126, a suction/irrigation module 128, a communication module 130, a processor module 132, a storage array 134, a surgical device coupled to a display, and/or a non-contact sensor module, among other modular devices that may be connected to the modular communication hub 203 of the surgical data network 201.
In one aspect, the surgical data network 201 may comprise a combination of network hub(s), network switch(es), and network router(s) connecting the devices 1a-1n/2a-2m to the cloud. Any one of or all of the devices 1a-1n/2a-2m coupled to the network hub or network switch may collect data in real time and transfer the data to cloud computers for data processing and manipulation. It will be appreciated that cloud computing relies on sharing computing resources rather than having local servers or personal devices to handle software applications. The word “cloud” may be used as a metaphor for “the Internet,” although the term is not limited as such. Accordingly, the term “cloud computing” may be used herein to refer to “a type of Internet-based computing,” where different services—such as servers, storage, and applications—are delivered to the modular communication hub 203 and/or computer system 210 located in the surgical theater (e.g., a fixed, mobile, temporary, or field operating room or space) and to devices connected to the modular communication hub 203 and/or computer system 210 through the Internet. The cloud infrastructure may be maintained by a cloud service provider. In this context, the cloud service provider may be the entity that coordinates the usage and control of the devices 1a-1n/2a-2m located in one or more operating theaters. The cloud computing services can perform a large number of calculations based on the data gathered by smart surgical instruments, robots, and other computerized devices located in the operating theater. The hub hardware enables multiple devices or connections to be connected to a computer that communicates with the cloud computing resources and storage.
Applying cloud computer data processing techniques on the data collected by the devices 1a-1n/2a-2m, the surgical data network provides improved surgical outcomes, reduced costs, and improved patient satisfaction. At least some of the devices 1a-1n/2a-2m may be employed to view tissue states to assess leaks or perfusion of sealed tissue after a tissue sealing and cutting procedure. At least some of the devices 1a-1n/2a-2m may be employed to identify pathology, such as the effects of diseases, using the cloud-based computing to examine data including images of samples of body tissue for diagnostic purposes. This includes localization and margin confirmation of tissue and phenotypes. At least some of the devices 1a-1n/2a-2m may be employed to identify anatomical structures of the body using a variety of sensors integrated with imaging devices and techniques such as overlaying images captured by multiple imaging devices. The data gathered by the devices 1a-1n/2a-2m, including image data, may be transferred to the cloud 204 or the local computer system 210 or both for data processing and manipulation including image processing and manipulation. The data may be analyzed to improve surgical procedure outcomes by determining if further treatment, such as the application of endoscopic intervention, emerging technologies, a targeted radiation, targeted intervention, and precise robotics to tissue-specific sites and conditions, may be pursued. Such data analysis may further employ outcome analytics processing, and using standardized approaches may provide beneficial feedback to either confirm surgical treatments and the behavior of the surgeon or suggest modifications to surgical treatments and the behavior of the surgeon.
In one implementation, the operating theater devices 1a-1n may be connected to the modular communication hub 203 over a wired channel or a wireless channel depending on the configuration of the devices 1a-1n to a network hub. The network hub 207 may be implemented, in one aspect, as a local network broadcast device that works on the physical layer of the Open System Interconnection (OSI) model. The network hub provides connectivity to the devices 1a-1n located in the same operating theater network. The network hub 207 collects data in the form of packets and sends them to the router in half duplex mode. The network hub 207 does not store any media access control/Internet Protocol (MAC/IP) to transfer the device data. Only one of the devices 1a-1n can send data at a time through the network hub 207. The network hub 207 has no routing tables or intelligence regarding where to send information and broadcasts all network data across each connection and to a remote server 213 (
In another implementation, the operating theater devices 2a-2m may be connected to a network switch 209 over a wired channel or a wireless channel. The network switch 209 works in the data link layer of the OSI model. The network switch 209 is a multicast device for connecting the devices 2a-2m located in the same operating theater to the network. The network switch 209 sends data in the form of frames to the network router 211 and works in full duplex mode. Multiple devices 2a-2m can send data at the same time through the network switch 209. The network switch 209 stores and uses MAC addresses of the devices 2a-2m to transfer data.
The network hub 207 and/or the network switch 209 are coupled to the network router 211 for connection to the cloud 204. The network router 211 works in the network layer of the OSI model. The network router 211 creates a route for transmitting data packets received from the network hub 207 and/or network switch 211 to cloud-based computer resources for further processing and manipulation of the data collected by any one of or all the devices 1a-1n/2a-2m. The network router 211 may be employed to connect two or more different networks located in different locations, such as, for example, different operating theaters of the same healthcare facility or different networks located in different operating theaters of different healthcare facilities. The network router 211 sends data in the form of packets to the cloud 204 and works in full duplex mode. Multiple devices can send data at the same time. The network router 211 uses IP addresses to transfer data.
In one example, the network hub 207 may be implemented as a USB hub, which allows multiple USB devices to be connected to a host computer. The USB hub may expand a single USB port into several tiers so that there are more ports available to connect devices to the host system computer. The network hub 207 may include wired or wireless capabilities to receive information over a wired channel or a wireless channel. In one aspect, a wireless USB short-range, high-bandwidth wireless radio communication protocol may be employed for communication between the devices 1a-1n and devices 2a-2m located in the operating theater.
In other examples, the operating theater devices 1a-1n/2a-2m may communicate to the modular communication hub 203 via Bluetooth wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances (using short-wavelength UHF radio waves in the ISM band from 2.4 to 2.485 GHz) from fixed and mobile devices and building personal area networks (PANs). In other aspects, the operating theater devices 1a-1n/2a-2m may communicate to the modular communication hub 203 via a number of wireless or wired communication standards or protocols, including but not limited to Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 family), WiMAX (IEEE 802.16 family), IEEE 802.20, long-term evolution (LTE), and Ev-DO, HSPA+, HSDPA+, HSUPA+, EDGE, GSM, GPRS, CDMA, TDMA, DECT, and Ethernet derivatives thereof, as well as any other wireless and wired protocols that are designated as 3G, 4G, 5G, and beyond. The computing module may include a plurality of communication modules. For instance, a first communication module may be dedicated to shorter-range wireless communications such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and a second communication module may be dedicated to longer-range wireless communications such as GPS, EDGE, GPRS, CDMA, WiMAX, LTE, Ev-DO, and others.
The modular communication hub 203 may serve as a central connection for one or all of the operating theater devices 1a-1n/2a-2m and handles a data type known as frames. Frames carry the data generated by the devices 1a-1n/2a-2m. When a frame is received by the modular communication hub 203, it is amplified and transmitted to the network router 211, which transfers the data to the cloud computing resources by using a number of wireless or wired communication standards or protocols, as described herein.
The modular communication hub 203 can be used as a standalone device or be connected to compatible network hubs and network switches to form a larger network. The modular communication hub 203 is generally easy to install, configure, and maintain, making it a good option for networking the operating theater devices 1a-1n/2a-2m.
The surgical hub 206 employs a non-contact sensor module 242 to measure the dimensions of the operating theater and generate a map of the surgical theater using either ultrasonic or laser-type non-contact measurement devices. An ultrasound-based non-contact sensor module scans the operating theater by transmitting a burst of ultrasound and receiving the echo when it bounces off the perimeter walls of an operating theater as described under the heading “Surgical Hub Spatial Awareness Within an Operating Room” in U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/611,341, titled INTERACTIVE SURGICAL PLATFORM, filed Dec. 28, 2017, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, in which the sensor module is configured to determine the size of the operating theater and to adjust Bluetooth-pairing distance limits. A laser-based non-contact sensor module scans the operating theater by transmitting laser light pulses, receiving laser light pulses that bounce off the perimeter walls of the operating theater, and comparing the phase of the transmitted pulse to the received pulse to determine the size of the operating theater and to adjust Bluetooth pairing distance limits, for example.
The computer system 210 comprises a processor 244 and a network interface 245. The processor 244 is coupled to a communication module 247, storage 248, memory 249, non-volatile memory 250, and input/output interface 251 via a system bus. The system bus can be any of several types of bus structure(s) including the memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus or external bus, and/or a local bus using any variety of available bus architectures including, but not limited to, 9-bit bus, Industrial Standard Architecture (ISA), Micro-Charmel Architecture (MSA), Extended ISA (EISA), Intelligent Drive Electronics (IDE), VESA Local Bus (VLB), Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), USB, Advanced Graphics Port (AGP), Personal Computer Memory Card International Association bus (PCMCIA), Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI), or any other proprietary bus.
The processor 244 may be any single-core or multicore processor such as those known under the trade name ARM Cortex by Texas Instruments. In one aspect, the processor may be an LM4F230H5QR ARM Cortex-M4F Processor Core, available from Texas Instruments, for example, comprising an on-chip memory of 256 KB single-cycle flash memory, or other non-volatile memory, up to 40 MHz, a prefetch buffer to improve performance above 40 MHz, a 32 KB single-cycle serial random access memory (SRAM), an internal read-only memory (ROM) loaded with StellarisWare® software, a 2 KB electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), and/or one or more pulse width modulation (PWM) modules, one or more quadrature encoder inputs (QEI) analogs, one or more 12-bit analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) with 12 analog input channels, details of which are available for the product datasheet.
In one aspect, the processor 244 may comprise a safety controller comprising two controller-based families such as TMS570 and RM4x, known under the trade name Hercules ARM Cortex R4, also by Texas Instruments. The safety controller may be configured specifically for IEC 61508 and ISO 26262 safety critical applications, among others, to provide advanced integrated safety features while delivering scalable performance, connectivity, and memory options.
The system memory includes volatile memory and non-volatile memory. The basic input/output system (BIOS), containing the basic routines to transfer information between elements within the computer system, such as during start-up, is stored in non-volatile memory. For example, the non-volatile memory can include ROM, programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM), EEPROM, or flash memory. Volatile memory includes random-access memory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. Moreover, RAM is available in many forms such as SRAM, dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM).
The computer system 210 also includes removable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computer storage media, such as for example disk storage. The disk storage includes, but is not limited to, devices like a magnetic disk drive, floppy disk drive, tape drive, Jaz drive, Zip drive, LS-60 drive, flash memory card, or memory stick. In addition, the disk storage can include storage media separately or in combination with other storage media including, but not limited to, an optical disc drive such as a compact disc ROM device (CD-ROM), compact disc recordable drive (CD-R Drive), compact disc rewritable drive (CD-RW Drive), or a digital versatile disc ROM drive (DVD-ROM). To facilitate the connection of the disk storage devices to the system bus, a removable or non-removable interface may be employed.
It is to be appreciated that the computer system 210 includes software that acts as an intermediary between users and the basic computer resources described in a suitable operating environment. Such software includes an operating system. The operating system, which can be stored on the disk storage, acts to control and allocate resources of the computer system. System applications take advantage of the management of resources by the operating system through program modules and program data stored either in the system memory or on the disk storage. It is to be appreciated that various components described herein can be implemented with various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.
A user enters commands or information into the computer system 210 through input device(s) coupled to the I/O interface 251. The input devices include, but are not limited to, a pointing device such as a mouse, trackball, stylus, touch pad, keyboard, microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, TV tuner card, digital camera, digital video camera, web camera, and the like. These and other input devices connect to the processor through the system bus via interface port(s). The interface port(s) include, for example, a serial port, a parallel port, a game port, and a USB. The output device(s) use some of the same types of ports as input device(s). Thus, for example, a USB port may be used to provide input to the computer system and to output information from the computer system to an output device. An output adapter is provided to illustrate that there are some output devices like monitors, displays, speakers, and printers, among other output devices that require special adapters. The output adapters include, by way of illustration and not limitation, video and sound cards that provide a means of connection between the output device and the system bus. It should be noted that other devices and/or systems of devices, such as remote computer(s), provide both input and output capabilities.
The computer system 210 can operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers, such as cloud computer(s), or local computers. The remote cloud computer(s) can be a personal computer, server, router, network PC, workstation, microprocessor-based appliance, peer device, or other common network node, and the like, and typically includes many or all of the elements described relative to the computer system. For purposes of brevity, only a memory storage device is illustrated with the remote computer(s). The remote computer(s) is logically connected to the computer system through a network interface and then physically connected via a communication connection. The network interface encompasses communication networks such as local area networks (LANs) and wide area networks (WANs). LAN technologies include Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI), Copper Distributed Data Interface (CDDI), Ethernet/IEEE 802.3, Token Ring/IEEE 802.5 and the like. WAN technologies include, but are not limited to, point-to-point links, circuit-switching networks like Integrated Services Digital Networks (ISDN) and variations thereon, packet-switching networks, and Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL).
In various aspects, the computer system 210 of
The communication connection(s) refers to the hardware/software employed to connect the network interface to the bus. While the communication connection is shown for illustrative clarity inside the computer system, it can also be external to the computer system 210. The hardware/software necessary for connection to the network interface includes, for illustrative purposes only, internal and external technologies such as modems, including regular telephone-grade modems, cable modems, and DSL modems, ISDN adapters, and Ethernet cards.
The USB network hub 300 device is implemented with a digital state machine instead of a microcontroller, and no firmware programming is required. Fully compliant USB transceivers are integrated into the circuit for the upstream USB transceiver port 302 and all downstream USB transceiver ports 304, 306, 308. The downstream USB transceiver ports 304, 306, 308 support both full-speed and low-speed devices by automatically setting the slew rate according to the speed of the device attached to the ports. The USB network hub 300 device may be configured either in bus-powered or self-powered mode and includes a hub power logic 312 to manage power.
The USB network hub 300 device includes a serial interface engine 310 (SIE). The SIE 310 is the front end of the USB network hub 300 hardware and handles most of the protocol described in chapter 8 of the USB specification. The SIE 310 typically comprehends signaling up to the transaction level. The functions that it handles could include: packet recognition, transaction sequencing, SOP, EOP, RESET, and RESUME signal detection/generation, clock/data separation, non-return-to-zero invert (NRZI) data encoding/decoding and bit-stuffing, CRC generation and checking (token and data), packet ID (PID) generation and checking/decoding, and/or serial-parallel/parallel-serial conversion. The 310 receives a clock input 314 and is coupled to a suspend/resume logic and frame timer 316 circuit and a hub repeater circuit 318 to control communication between the upstream USB transceiver port 302 and the downstream USB transceiver ports 304, 306, 308 through port logic circuits 320, 322, 324. The SIE 310 is coupled to a command decoder 326 via interface logic to control commands from a serial EEPROM via a serial EEPROM interface 330.
In various aspects, the USB network hub 300 can connect 127 functions configured in up to six logical layers (tiers) to a single computer. Further, the USB network hub 300 can connect to all peripherals using a standardized four-wire cable that provides both communication and power distribution. The power configurations are bus-powered and self-powered modes. The USB network hub 300 may be configured to support four modes of power management: a bus-powered hub, with either individual-port power management or ganged-port power management, and the self-powered hub, with either individual-port power management or ganged-port power management. In one aspect, using a USB cable, the USB network hub 300, the upstream USB transceiver port 302 is plugged into a USB host controller, and the downstream USB transceiver ports 304, 306, 308 are exposed for connecting USB compatible devices, and so forth.
Surgical Instrument Hardware
In one aspect, the microcontroller 461 may be any single-core or multicore processor such as those known under the trade name ARM Cortex by Texas Instruments. In one aspect, the main microcontroller 461 may be an LM4F230H5QR ARM Cortex-M4F Processor Core, available from Texas Instruments, for example, comprising an on-chip memory of 256 KB single-cycle flash memory, or other non-volatile memory, up to 40 MHz, a prefetch buffer to improve performance above 40 MHz, a 32 KB single-cycle SRAM, and internal ROM loaded with StellarisWare® software, a 2 KB EEPROM, one or more PWM modules, one or more QEI analogs, and/or one or more 12-bit ADCs with 12 analog input channels, details of which are available for the product datasheet.
In one aspect, the microcontroller 461 may comprise a safety controller comprising two controller-based families such as TMS570 and RM4x, known under the trade name Hercules ARM Cortex R4, also by Texas Instruments. The safety controller may be configured specifically for IEC 61508 and ISO 26262 safety critical applications, among others, to provide advanced integrated safety features while delivering scalable performance, connectivity, and memory options.
The microcontroller 461 may be programmed to perform various functions such as precise control over the speed and position of the knife and articulation systems. In one aspect, the microcontroller 461 includes a processor 462 and a memory 468. The electric motor 482 may be a brushed direct current (DC) motor with a gearbox and mechanical links to an articulation or knife system. In one aspect, a motor driver 492 may be an A3941 available from Allegro Microsystems, Inc. Other motor drivers may be readily substituted for use in the tracking system 480 comprising an absolute positioning system. A detailed description of an absolute positioning system is described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017/0296213, titled SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CONTROLLING A SURGICAL STAPLING AND CUTTING INSTRUMENT, which published on Oct. 19, 2017, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The microcontroller 461 may be programmed to provide precise control over the speed and position of displacement members and articulation systems. The microcontroller 461 may be configured to compute a response in the software of the microcontroller 461. The computed response is compared to a measured response of the actual system to obtain an “observed” response, which is used for actual feedback decisions. The observed response is a favorable, tuned value that balances the smooth, continuous nature of the simulated response with the measured response, which can detect outside influences on the system.
In one aspect, the motor 482 may be controlled by the motor driver 492 and can be employed by the firing system of the surgical instrument or tool. In various forms, the motor 482 may be a brushed DC driving motor having a maximum rotational speed of approximately 25,000 RPM. In other arrangements, the motor 482 may include a brushless motor, a cordless motor, a synchronous motor, a stepper motor, or any other suitable electric motor. The motor driver 492 may comprise an H-bridge driver comprising field-effect transistors (FETs), for example. The motor 482 can be powered by a power assembly releasably mounted to the handle assembly or tool housing for supplying control power to the surgical instrument or tool. The power assembly may comprise a battery which may include a number of battery cells connected in series that can be used as the power source to power the surgical instrument or tool. In certain circumstances, the battery cells of the power assembly may be replaceable and/or rechargeable. In at least one example, the battery cells can be lithium-ion batteries which can be couplable to and separable from the power assembly.
The motor driver 492 may be an A3941 available from Allegro Microsystems, Inc. The A3941 492 is a full-bridge controller for use with external N-channel power metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) specifically designed for inductive loads, such as brush DC motors. The driver 492 comprises a unique charge pump regulator that provides full (>10 V) gate drive for battery voltages down to 7 V and allows the A3941 to operate with a reduced gate drive, down to 5.5 V. A bootstrap capacitor may be employed to provide the above battery supply voltage required for N-channel MOSFETs. An internal charge pump for the high-side drive allows DC (100% duty cycle) operation. The full bridge can be driven in fast or slow decay modes using diode or synchronous rectification. In the slow decay mode, current recirculation can be through the high-side or the lowside FETs. The power FETs are protected from shoot-through by resistor-adjustable dead time. Integrated diagnostics provide indications of undervoltage, overtemperature, and power bridge faults and can be configured to protect the power MOSFETs under most short circuit conditions. Other motor drivers may be readily substituted for use in the tracking system 480 comprising an absolute positioning system.
The tracking system 480 comprises a controlled motor drive circuit arrangement comprising a position sensor 472, in accordance with at least one aspect of this disclosure. The position sensor 472 for an absolute positioning system provides a unique position signal corresponding to the location of a displacement member. In one aspect, the displacement member represents a longitudinally movable drive member comprising a rack of drive teeth for meshing engagement with a corresponding drive gear of a gear reducer assembly. In other aspects, the displacement member represents the firing member, which could be adapted and configured to include a rack of drive teeth. In yet another aspect, the displacement member represents a firing bar or the I-beam, each of which can be adapted and configured to include a rack of drive teeth. Accordingly, as used herein, the term displacement member is used generically to refer to any movable member of the surgical instrument or tool such as the drive member, the firing member, the firing bar, the I-beam, or any element that can be displaced. In one aspect, the longitudinally movable drive member is coupled to the firing member, the firing bar, and the I-beam. Accordingly, the absolute positioning system can, in effect, track the linear displacement of the I-beam by tracking the linear displacement of the longitudinally movable drive member. In various other aspects, the displacement member may be coupled to any position sensor 472 suitable for measuring linear displacement. Thus, the longitudinally movable drive member, the firing member, the firing bar, or the I-beam, or combinations thereof, may be coupled to any suitable linear displacement sensor. Linear displacement sensors may include contact or non-contact displacement sensors. Linear displacement sensors may comprise linear variable differential transformers (LVDT), differential variable reluctance transducers (DVRT), a slide potentiometer, a magnetic sensing system comprising a movable magnet and a series of linearly arranged Hall effect sensors, a magnetic sensing system comprising a fixed magnet and a series of movable, linearly arranged Hall effect sensors, an optical sensing system comprising a movable light source and a series of linearly arranged photo diodes or photo detectors, an optical sensing system comprising a fixed light source and a series of movable linearly, arranged photo diodes or photo detectors, or any combination thereof.
The electric motor 482 can include a rotatable shaft that operably interfaces with a gear assembly that is mounted in meshing engagement with a set, or rack, of drive teeth on the displacement member. A sensor element may be operably coupled to a gear assembly such that a single revolution of the position sensor 472 element corresponds to some linear longitudinal translation of the displacement member. An arrangement of gearing and sensors can be connected to the linear actuator, via a rack and pinion arrangement, or a rotary actuator, via a spur gear or other connection. A power source supplies power to the absolute positioning system and an output indicator may display the output of the absolute positioning system. The displacement member represents the longitudinally movable drive member comprising a rack of drive teeth formed thereon for meshing engagement with a corresponding drive gear of the gear reducer assembly. The displacement member represents the longitudinally movable firing member, firing bar, I-beam, or combinations thereof.
A single revolution of the sensor element associated with the position sensor 472 is equivalent to a longitudinal linear displacement d1 of the of the displacement member, where d1 is the longitudinal linear distance that the displacement member moves from point “a” to point “b” after a single revolution of the sensor element coupled to the displacement member. The sensor arrangement may be connected via a gear reduction that results in the position sensor 472 completing one or more revolutions for the full stroke of the displacement member. The position sensor 472 may complete multiple revolutions for the full stroke of the displacement member.
A series of switches, where n is an integer greater than one, may be employed alone or in combination with a gear reduction to provide a unique position signal for more than one revolution of the position sensor 472. The state of the switches are fed back to the microcontroller 461 that applies logic to determine a unique position signal corresponding to the longitudinal linear displacement d1+d2+ . . . dn of the displacement member. The output of the position sensor 472 is provided to the microcontroller 461. The position sensor 472 of the sensor arrangement may comprise a magnetic sensor, an analog rotary sensor like a potentiometer, or an array of analog Hall-effect elements, which output a unique combination of position signals or values.
The position sensor 472 may comprise any number of magnetic sensing elements, such as, for example, magnetic sensors classified according to whether they measure the total magnetic field or the vector components of the magnetic field. The techniques used to produce both types of magnetic sensors encompass many aspects of physics and electronics. The technologies used for magnetic field sensing include search coil, fluxgate, optically pumped, nuclear precession, SQUID, Hall-effect, anisotropic magnetoresistance, giant magnetoresistance, magnetic tunnel junctions, giant magnetoimpedance, magnetostrictive/piezoelectric composites, magnetodiode, magnetotransistor, fiber-optic, magneto-optic, and microelectromechanical systems-based magnetic sensors, among others.
In one aspect, the position sensor 472 for the tracking system 480 comprising an absolute positioning system comprises a magnetic rotary absolute positioning system. The position sensor 472 may be implemented as an AS5055EQFT single-chip magnetic rotary position sensor available from Austria Microsystems, AG. The position sensor 472 is interfaced with the microcontroller 461 to provide an absolute positioning system. The position sensor 472 is a low-voltage and low-power component and includes four Hall-effect elements in an area of the position sensor 472 that is located above a magnet. A high-resolution ADC and a smart power management controller are also provided on the chip. A coordinate rotation digital computer (CORDIC) processor, also known as the digit-by-digit method and Volder's algorithm, is provided to implement a simple and efficient algorithm to calculate hyperbolic and trigonometric functions that require only addition, subtraction, bitshift, and table lookup operations. The angle position, alarm bits, and magnetic field information are transmitted over a standard serial communication interface, such as a serial peripheral interface (SPI) interface, to the microcontroller 461. The position sensor 472 provides 12 or 14 bits of resolution. The position sensor 472 may be an AS5055 chip provided in a small QFN 16-pin 4×4×0.85 mm package.
The tracking system 480 comprising an absolute positioning system may comprise and/or be programmed to implement a feedback controller, such as a PID, state feedback, and adaptive controller. A power source converts the signal from the feedback controller into a physical input to the system: in this case the voltage. Other examples include a PWM of the voltage, current, and force. Other sensor(s) may be provided to measure physical parameters of the physical system in addition to the position measured by the position sensor 472. In some aspects, the other sensor(s) can include sensor arrangements such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,345,481, titled STAPLE CARTRIDGE TISSUE THICKNESS SENSOR SYSTEM, which issued on May 24, 2016, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0263552, titled STAPLE CARTRIDGE TISSUE THICKNESS SENSOR SYSTEM, which published on Sep. 18, 2014, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/628,175, titled TECHNIQUES FOR ADAPTIVE CONTROL OF MOTOR VELOCITY OF A SURGICAL STAPLING AND CUTTING INSTRUMENT, filed Jun. 20, 2017, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. In a digital signal processing system, an absolute positioning system is coupled to a digital data acquisition system where the output of the absolute positioning system will have a finite resolution and sampling frequency. The absolute positioning system may comprise a compare-and-combine circuit to combine a computed response with a measured response using algorithms, such as a weighted average and a theoretical control loop, that drive the computed response towards the measured response. The computed response of the physical system takes into account properties like mass, inertial, viscous friction, inductance resistance, etc., to predict what the states and outputs of the physical system will be by knowing the input.
The absolute positioning system provides an absolute position of the displacement member upon power-up of the instrument, without retracting or advancing the displacement member to a reset (zero or home) position as may be required with conventional rotary encoders that merely count the number of steps forwards or backwards that the motor 482 has taken to infer the position of a device actuator, drive bar, knife, or the like.
A sensor 474, such as, for example, a strain gauge or a micro-strain gauge, is configured to measure one or more parameters of the end effector, such as, for example, the amplitude of the strain exerted on the anvil during a clamping operation, which can be indicative of the closure forces applied to the anvil. The measured strain is converted to a digital signal and provided to the processor 462. Alternatively, or in addition to the sensor 474, a sensor 476, such as, for example, a load sensor, can measure the closure force applied by the closure drive system to the anvil. The sensor 476, such as, for example, a load sensor, can measure the firing force applied to an I-beam in a firing stroke of the surgical instrument or tool. The I-beam is configured to engage a wedge sled, which is configured to upwardly cam staple drivers to force out staples into deforming contact with an anvil. The I-beam also includes a sharpened cutting edge that can be used to sever tissue as the I-beam is advanced distally by the firing bar. Alternatively, a current sensor 478 can be employed to measure the current drawn by the motor 482. The force required to advance the firing member can correspond to the current drawn by the motor 482, for example. The measured force is converted to a digital signal and provided to the processor 462.
In one form, the strain gauge sensor 474 can be used to measure the force applied to the tissue by the end effector. A strain gauge can be coupled to the end effector to measure the force on the tissue being treated by the end effector. A system for measuring forces applied to the tissue grasped by the end effector comprises a strain gauge sensor 474, such as, for example, a micro-strain gauge, that is configured to measure one or more parameters of the end effector, for example. In one aspect, the strain gauge sensor 474 can measure the amplitude or magnitude of the strain exerted on a jaw member of an end effector during a clamping operation, which can be indicative of the tissue compression. The measured strain is converted to a digital signal and provided to a processor 462 of the microcontroller 461. A load sensor 476 can measure the force used to operate the knife element, for example, to cut the tissue captured between the anvil and the staple cartridge. A magnetic field sensor can be employed to measure the thickness of the captured tissue. The measurement of the magnetic field sensor also may be converted to a digital signal and provided to the processor 462.
The measurements of the tissue compression, the tissue thickness, and/or the force required to close the end effector on the tissue, as respectively measured by the sensors 474, 476, can be used by the microcontroller 461 to characterize the selected position of the firing member and/or the corresponding value of the speed of the firing member. In one instance, a memory 468 may store a technique, an equation, and/or a lookup table which can be employed by the microcontroller 461 in the assessment.
The control system 470 of the surgical instrument or tool also may comprise wired or wireless communication circuits to communicate with the modular communication hub as shown in
In certain instances, the surgical instrument system or tool may include a firing motor 602. The firing motor 602 may be operably coupled to a firing motor drive assembly 604 which can be configured to transmit firing motions, generated by the motor 602 to the end effector, in particular to displace the !-beam element. In certain instances, the firing motions generated by the motor 602 may cause the staples to be deployed from the staple cartridge into tissue captured by the end effector and/or the cutting edge of the I-beam element to be advanced to cut the captured tissue, for example. The I-beam element may be retracted by reversing the direction of the motor 602.
In certain instances, the surgical instrument or tool may include a closure motor 603. The closure motor 603 may be operably coupled to a closure motor drive assembly 605 which can be configured to transmit closure motions, generated by the motor 603 to the end effector, in particular to displace a closure tube to close the anvil and compress tissue between the anvil and the staple cartridge. The closure motions may cause the end effector to transition from an open configuration to an approximated configuration to capture tissue, for example. The end effector may be transitioned to an open position by reversing the direction of the motor 603.
In certain instances, the surgical instrument or tool may include one or more articulation motors 606a, 606b, for example. The motors 606a, 606b may be operably coupled to respective articulation motor drive assemblies 608a, 608b, which can be configured to transmit articulation motions generated by the motors 606a, 606b to the end effector. In certain instances, the articulation motions may cause the end effector to articulate relative to the shaft, for example.
As described above, the surgical instrument or tool may include a plurality of motors which may be configured to perform various independent functions. In certain instances, the plurality of motors of the surgical instrument or tool can be individually or separately activated to perform one or more functions while the other motors remain inactive. For example, the articulation motors 606a, 606b can be activated to cause the end effector to be articulated while the firing motor 602 remains inactive. Alternatively, the firing motor 602 can be activated to fire the plurality of staples, and/or to advance the cutting edge, while the articulation motor 606 remains inactive. Furthermore, the closure motor 603 may be activated simultaneously with the firing motor 602 to cause the closure tube and the I-beam element to advance distally as described in more detail hereinbelow.
In certain instances, the surgical instrument or tool may include a common control module 610 which can be employed with a plurality of motors of the surgical instrument or tool. In certain instances, the common control module 610 may accommodate one of the plurality of motors at a time. For example, the common control module 610 can be couplable to and separable from the plurality of motors of the robotic surgical instrument individually. In certain instances, a plurality of the motors of the surgical instrument or tool may share one or more common control modules such as the common control module 610. In certain instances, a plurality of motors of the surgical instrument or tool can be individually and selectively engaged with the common control module 610. In certain instances, the common control module 610 can be selectively switched from interfacing with one of a plurality of motors of the surgical instrument or tool to interfacing with another one of the plurality of motors of the surgical instrument or tool.
In at least one example, the common control module 610 can be selectively switched between operable engagement with the articulation motors 606a, 606b and operable engagement with either the firing motor 602 or the closure motor 603. In at least one example, as illustrated in
Each of the motors 602, 603, 606a, 606b may comprise a torque sensor to measure the output torque on the shaft of the motor. The force on an end effector may be sensed in any conventional manner, such as by force sensors on the outer sides of the jaws or by a torque sensor for the motor actuating the jaws.
In various instances, as illustrated in
In certain instances, the microcontroller 620 may include a microprocessor 622 (the “processor”) and one or more non-transitory computer-readable mediums or memory units 624 (the “memory”). In certain instances, the memory 624 may store various program instructions, which when executed may cause the processor 622 to perform a plurality of functions and/or calculations described herein. In certain instances, one or more of the memory units 624 may be coupled to the processor 622, for example.
In certain instances, the power source 628 can be employed to supply power to the microcontroller 620, for example. In certain instances, the power source 628 may comprise a battery (or “battery pack” or “power pack”), such as a lithium-ion battery, for example. In certain instances, the battery pack may be configured to be releasably mounted to a handle for supplying power to the surgical instrument 600. A number of battery cells connected in series may be used as the power source 628. In certain instances, the power source 628 may be replaceable and/or rechargeable, for example.
In various instances, the processor 622 may control the motor driver 626 to control the position, direction of rotation, and/or velocity of a motor that is coupled to the common control module 610. In certain instances, the processor 622 can signal the motor driver 626 to stop and/or disable a motor that is coupled to the common control module 610. It should be understood that the term “processor” as used herein includes any suitable microprocessor, microcontroller, or other basic computing device that incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit (CPU) on an integrated circuit or, at most, a few integrated circuits. The processor is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and provides results as output. It is an example of sequential digital logic, as it has internal memory. Processors operate on numbers and symbols represented in the binary numeral system.
In one instance, the processor 622 may be any single-core or multicore processor such as those known under the trade name ARM Cortex by Texas Instruments. In certain instances, the microcontroller 620 may be an LM 4F230H5QR, available from Texas Instruments, for example. In at least one example, the Texas Instruments LM4F230H5QR is an ARM Cortex-M4F Processor Core comprising an on-chip memory of 256 KB single-cycle flash memory, or other non-volatile memory, up to 40 MHz, a prefetch buffer to improve performance above 40 MHz, a 32 KB single-cycle SRAM, an internal ROM loaded with StellarisWare® software, a 2 KB EEPROM, one or more PWM modules, one or more QEI analogs, one or more 12-bit ADCs with 12 analog input channels, among other features that are readily available for the product datasheet. Other microcontrollers may be readily substituted for use with the module 4410. Accordingly, the present disclosure should not be limited in this context.
In certain instances, the memory 624 may include program instructions for controlling each of the motors of the surgical instrument 600 that are couplable to the common control module 610. For example, the memory 624 may include program instructions for controlling the firing motor 602, the closure motor 603, and the articulation motors 606a, 606b. Such program instructions may cause the processor 622 to control the firing, closure, and articulation functions in accordance with inputs from algorithms or control programs of the surgical instrument or tool.
In certain instances, one or more mechanisms and/or sensors such as, for example, sensors 630 can be employed to alert the processor 622 to the program instructions that should be used in a particular setting. For example, the sensors 630 may alert the processor 622 to use the program instructions associated with firing, closing, and articulating the end effector. In certain instances, the sensors 630 may comprise position sensors which can be employed to sense the position of the switch 614, for example. Accordingly, the processor 622 may use the program instructions associated with firing the I-beam of the end effector upon detecting, through the sensors 630 for example, that the switch 614 is in the first position 616; the processor 622 may use the program instructions associated with closing the anvil upon detecting, through the sensors 630 for example, that the switch 614 is in the second position 617; and the processor 622 may use the program instructions associated with articulating the end effector upon detecting, through the sensors 630 for example, that the switch 614 is in the third or fourth position 618a, 618b.
In one aspect, the robotic surgical instrument 700 comprises a control circuit 710 configured to control an anvil 716 and an I-beam 714 (including a sharp cutting edge) portion of an end effector 702, a removable staple cartridge 718, a shaft 740, and one or more articulation members 742a, 742b via a plurality of motors 704a-704e. A position sensor 734 may be configured to provide position feedback of the I-beam 714 to the control circuit 710. Other sensors 738 may be configured to provide feedback to the control circuit 710. A timer/counter 731 provides timing and counting information to the control circuit 710. An energy source 712 may be provided to operate the motors 704a-704e, and a current sensor 736 provides motor current feedback to the control circuit 710. The motors 704a-704e can be operated individually by the control circuit 710 in an open-loop or closed-loop feedback control.
In one aspect, the control circuit 710 may comprise one or more microcontrollers, microprocessors, or other suitable processors for executing instructions that cause the processor or processors to perform one or more tasks. In one aspect, a timer/counter 731 provides an output signal, such as the elapsed time or a digital count, to the control circuit 710 to correlate the position of the !-beam 714 as determined by the position sensor 734 with the output of the timer/counter 731 such that the control circuit 710 can determine the position of the I-beam 714 at a specific time (t) relative to a starting position or the time (t) when the I-beam 714 is at a specific position relative to a starting position. The timer/counter 731 may be configured to measure elapsed time, count external events, or time external events.
In one aspect, the control circuit 710 may be programmed to control functions of the end effector 702 based on one or more tissue conditions. The control circuit 710 may be programmed to sense tissue conditions, such as thickness, either directly or indirectly, as described herein. The control circuit 710 may be programmed to select a firing control program or closure control program based on tissue conditions. A firing control program may describe the distal motion of the displacement member. Different firing control programs may be selected to better treat different tissue conditions. For example, when thicker tissue is present, the control circuit 710 may be programmed to translate the displacement member at a lower velocity and/or with lower power. When thinner tissue is present, the control circuit 710 may be programmed to translate the displacement member at a higher velocity and/or with higher power. A closure control program may control the closure force applied to the tissue by the anvil 716. Other control programs control the rotation of the shaft 740 and the articulation members 742a, 742b.
In one aspect, the control circuit 710 may generate motor set point signals. The motor set point signals may be provided to various motor controllers 708a-708e. The motor controllers 708a-708e may comprise one or more circuits configured to provide motor drive signals to the motors 704a-704e to drive the motors 704a-704e as described herein. In some examples, the motors 704a-704e may be brushed DC electric motors. For example, the velocity of the motors 704a-704e may be proportional to the respective motor drive signals. In some examples, the motors 704a-704e may be brushless DC electric motors, and the respective motor drive signals may comprise a PWM signal provided to one or more stator windings of the motors 704a-704e. Also, in some examples, the motor controllers 708a-708e may be omitted and the control circuit 710 may generate the motor drive signals directly.
In one aspect, the control circuit 710 may initially operate each of the motors 704a-704e in an open-loop configuration for a first open-loop portion of a stroke of the displacement member. Based on the response of the robotic surgical instrument 700 during the open-loop portion of the stroke, the control circuit 710 may select a firing control program in a closed-loop configuration. The response of the instrument may include a translation distance of the displacement member during the open-loop portion, a time elapsed during the open-loop portion, the energy provided to one of the motors 704a-704e during the open-loop portion, a sum of pulse widths of a motor drive signal, etc. After the open-loop portion, the control circuit 710 may implement the selected firing control program for a second portion of the displacement member stroke. For example, during a closed-loop portion of the stroke, the control circuit 710 may modulate one of the motors 704a-704e based on translation data describing a position of the displacement member in a closed-loop manner to translate the displacement member at a constant velocity.
In one aspect, the motors 704a-704e may receive power from an energy source 712. The energy source 712 may be a DC power supply driven by a main alternating current power source, a battery, a super capacitor, or any other suitable energy source. The motors 704a-704e may be mechanically coupled to individual movable mechanical elements such as the I-beam 714, anvil 716, shaft 740, articulation 742a, and articulation 742b via respective transmissions 706a-706e. The transmissions 706a-706e may include one or more gears or other linkage components to couple the motors 704a-704e to movable mechanical elements. A position sensor 734 may sense a position of the I-beam 714. The position sensor 734 may be or include any type of sensor that is capable of generating position data that indicate a position of the I-beam 714. In some examples, the position sensor 734 may include an encoder configured to provide a series of pulses to the control circuit 710 as the I-beam 714 translates distally and proximally. The control circuit 710 may track the pulses to determine the position of the I-beam 714. Other suitable position sensors may be used, including, for example, a proximity sensor. Other types of position sensors may provide other signals indicating motion of the I-beam 714. Also, in some examples, the position sensor 734 may be omitted. Where any of the motors 704a-704e is a stepper motor, the control circuit 710 may track the position of the I-beam 714 by aggregating the number and direction of steps that the motor 704 has been instructed to execute. The position sensor 734 may be located in the end effector 702 or at any other portion of the instrument. The outputs of each of the motors 704a-704e include a torque sensor 744a-744e to sense force and have an encoder to sense rotation of the drive shaft.
In one aspect, the control circuit 710 is configured to drive a firing member such as the I-beam 714 portion of the end effector 702. The control circuit 710 provides a motor set point to a motor control 708a, which provides a drive signal to the motor 704a. The output shaft of the motor 704a is coupled to a torque sensor 744a. The torque sensor 744a is coupled to a transmission 706a which is coupled to the I-beam 714. The transmission 706a comprises movable mechanical elements such as rotating elements and a firing member to control the movement of the I-beam 714 distally and proximally along a longitudinal axis of the end effector 702. In one aspect, the motor 704a may be coupled to the knife gear assembly, which includes a knife gear reduction set that includes a first knife drive gear and a second knife drive gear. A torque sensor 744a provides a firing force feedback signal to the control circuit 710. The firing force signal represents the force required to fire or displace the I-beam 714. A position sensor 734 may be configured to provide the position of the I-beam 714 along the firing stroke or the position of the firing member as a feedback signal to the control circuit 710. The end effector 702 may include additional sensors 738 configured to provide feedback signals to the control circuit 710. When ready to use, the control circuit 710 may provide a firing signal to the motor control 708a. In response to the firing signal, the motor 704a may drive the firing member distally along the longitudinal axis of the end effector 702 from a proximal stroke start position to a stroke end position distal to the stroke start position. As the firing member translates distally, an I-beam 714, with a cutting element positioned at a distal end, advances distally to cut tissue located between the staple cartridge 718 and the anvil 716.
In one aspect, the control circuit 710 is configured to drive a closure member such as the anvil 716 portion of the end effector 702. The control circuit 710 provides a motor set point to a motor control 708b, which provides a drive signal to the motor 704b. The output shaft of the motor 704b is coupled to a torque sensor 744b. The torque sensor 744b is coupled to a transmission 706b which is coupled to the anvil 716. The transmission 706b comprises movable mechanical elements such as rotating elements and a closure member to control the movement of the anvil 716 from the open and closed positions. In one aspect, the motor 704b is coupled to a closure gear assembly, which includes a closure reduction gear set that is supported in meshing engagement with the closure spur gear. The torque sensor 744b provides a closure force feedback signal to the control circuit 710. The closure force feedback signal represents the closure force applied to the anvil 716. The position sensor 734 may be configured to provide the position of the closure member as a feedback signal to the control circuit 710. Additional sensors 738 in the end effector 702 may provide the closure force feedback signal to the control circuit 710. The pivotable anvil 716 is positioned opposite the staple cartridge 718. When ready to use, the control circuit 710 may provide a closure signal to the motor control 708b. In response to the closure signal, the motor 704b advances a closure member to grasp tissue between the anvil 716 and the staple cartridge 718.
In one aspect, the control circuit 710 is configured to rotate a shaft member such as the shaft 740 to rotate the end effector 702. The control circuit 710 provides a motor set point to a motor control 708c, which provides a drive signal to the motor 704c. The output shaft of the motor 704c is coupled to a torque sensor 744c. The torque sensor 744c is coupled to a transmission 706c which is coupled to the shaft 740. The transmission 706c comprises movable mechanical elements such as rotating elements to control the rotation of the shaft 740 clockwise or counterclockwise up to and over 360°. In one aspect, the motor 704c is coupled to the rotational transmission assembly, which includes a tube gear segment that is formed on (or attached to) the proximal end of the proximal closure tube for operable engagement by a rotational gear assembly that is operably supported on the tool mounting plate. The torque sensor 744c provides a rotation force feedback signal to the control circuit 710. The rotation force feedback signal represents the rotation force applied to the shaft 740. The position sensor 734 may be configured to provide the position of the closure member as a feedback signal to the control circuit 710. Additional sensors 738 such as a shaft encoder may provide the rotational position of the shaft 740 to the control circuit 710.
In one aspect, the control circuit 710 is configured to articulate the end effector 702. The control circuit 710 provides a motor set point to a motor control 708d, which provides a drive signal to the motor 704d. The output shaft of the motor 704d is coupled to a torque sensor 744d. The torque sensor 744d is coupled to a transmission 706d which is coupled to an articulation member 742a. The transmission 706d comprises movable mechanical elements such as articulation elements to control the articulation of the end effector 702 ±65°. In one aspect, the motor 704d is coupled to an articulation nut, which is rotatably journaled on the proximal end portion of the distal spine portion and is rotatably driven thereon by an articulation gear assembly. The torque sensor 744d provides an articulation force feedback signal to the control circuit 710. The articulation force feedback signal represents the articulation force applied to the end effector 702. Sensors 738, such as an articulation encoder, may provide the articulation position of the end effector 702 to the control circuit 710.
In another aspect, the articulation function of the robotic surgical system 700 may comprise two articulation members, or links, 742a, 742b. These articulation members 742a, 742b are driven by separate disks on the robot interface (the rack) which are driven by the two motors 708d, 708e. When the separate firing motor 704a is provided, each of articulation links 742a, 742b can be antagonistically driven with respect to the other link in order to provide a resistive holding motion and a load to the head when it is not moving and to provide an articulation motion as the head is articulated. The articulation members 742a, 742b attach to the head at a fixed radius as the head is rotated. Accordingly, the mechanical advantage of the push-and-pull link changes as the head is rotated. This change in the mechanical advantage may be more pronounced with other articulation link drive systems.
In one aspect, the one or more motors 704a-704e may comprise a brushed DC motor with a gearbox and mechanical links to a firing member, closure member, or articulation member. Another example includes electric motors 704a-704e that operate the movable mechanical elements such as the displacement member, articulation links, closure tube, and shaft. An outside influence is an unmeasured, unpredictable influence of things like tissue, surrounding bodies, and friction on the physical system. Such outside influence can be referred to as drag, which acts in opposition to one of electric motors 704a-704e. The outside influence, such as drag, may cause the operation of the physical system to deviate from a desired operation of the physical system.
In one aspect, the position sensor 734 may be implemented as an absolute positioning system. In one aspect, the position sensor 734 may comprise a magnetic rotary absolute positioning system implemented as an AS5055EQFT single-chip magnetic rotary position sensor available from Austria Microsystems, AG. The position sensor 734 may interface with the control circuit 710 to provide an absolute positioning system. The position may include multiple Hall-effect elements located above a magnet and coupled to a CORDIC processor, also known as the digit-by-digit method and Volder's algorithm, that is provided to implement a simple and efficient algorithm to calculate hyperbolic and trigonometric functions that require only addition, subtraction, bitshift, and table lookup operations.
In one aspect, the control circuit 710 may be in communication with one or more sensors 738. The sensors 738 may be positioned on the end effector 702 and adapted to operate with the robotic surgical instrument 700 to measure the various derived parameters such as the gap distance versus time, tissue compression versus time, and anvil strain versus time. The sensors 738 may comprise a magnetic sensor, a magnetic field sensor, a strain gauge, a load cell, a pressure sensor, a force sensor, a torque sensor, an inductive sensor such as an eddy current sensor, a resistive sensor, a capacitive sensor, an optical sensor, and/or any other suitable sensor for measuring one or more parameters of the end effector 702. The sensors 738 may include one or more sensors. The sensors 738 may be located on the staple cartridge 718 deck to determine tissue location using segmented electrodes. The torque sensors 744a-744e may be configured to sense force such as firing force, closure force, and/or articulation force, among others. Accordingly, the control circuit 710 can sense (1) the closure load experienced by the distal closure tube and its position, (2) the firing member at the rack and its position, (3) what portion of the staple cartridge 718 has tissue on it, and (4) the load and position on both articulation rods.
In one aspect, the one or more sensors 738 may comprise a strain gauge, such as a micro-strain gauge, configured to measure the magnitude of the strain in the anvil 716 during a clamped condition. The strain gauge provides an electrical signal whose amplitude varies with the magnitude of the strain. The sensors 738 may comprise a pressure sensor configured to detect a pressure generated by the presence of compressed tissue between the anvil 716 and the staple cartridge 718. The sensors 738 may be configured to detect impedance of a tissue section located between the anvil 716 and the staple cartridge 718 that is indicative of the thickness and/or fullness of tissue located therebetween.
In one aspect, the sensors 738 may be implemented as one or more limit switches, electromechanical devices, solid-state switches, Hall-effect devices, magneto-resistive (MR) devices, giant magneto-resistive (GMR) devices, magnetometers, among others. In other implementations, the sensors 738 may be implemented as solid-state switches that operate under the influence of light, such as optical sensors, IR sensors, ultraviolet sensors, among others. Still, the switches may be solid-state devices such as transistors (e.g., FET, junction FET, MOSFET, bipolar, and the like). In other implementations, the sensors 738 may include electrical conductorless switches, ultrasonic switches, accelerometers, and inertial sensors, among others.
In one aspect, the sensors 738 may be configured to measure forces exerted on the anvil 716 by the closure drive system. For example, one or more sensors 738 can be at an interaction point between the closure tube and the anvil 716 to detect the closure forces applied by the closure tube to the anvil 716. The forces exerted on the anvil 716 can be representative of the tissue compression experienced by the tissue section captured between the anvil 716 and the staple cartridge 718. The one or more sensors 738 can be positioned at various interaction points along the closure drive system to detect the closure forces applied to the anvil 716 by the closure drive system. The one or more sensors 738 may be sampled in real time during a clamping operation by the processor of the control circuit 710. The control circuit 710 receives real-time sample measurements to provide and analyze time-based information and assess, in real time, closure forces applied to the anvil 716.
In one aspect, a current sensor 736 can be employed to measure the current drawn by each of the motors 704a-704e. The force required to advance any of the movable mechanical elements such as the I-beam 714 corresponds to the current drawn by one of the motors 704a-704e. The force is converted to a digital signal and provided to the control circuit 710. The control circuit 710 can be configured to simulate the response of the actual system of the instrument in the software of the controller. A displacement member can be actuated to move an I-beam 714 in the end effector 702 at or near a target velocity. The robotic surgical instrument 700 can include a feedback controller, which can be one of any feedback controllers, including, but not limited to a PID, a state feedback, a linear-quadratic (LQR), and/or an adaptive controller, for example. The robotic surgical instrument 700 can include a power source to convert the signal from the feedback controller into a physical input such as case voltage, PWM voltage, frequency modulated voltage, current, torque, and/or force, for example. Additional details are disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/636,829, titled CLOSED LOOP VELOCITY CONTROL TECHNIQUES FOR ROBOTIC SURGICAL INSTRUMENT, filed Jun. 29, 2017, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The position, movement, displacement, and/or translation of a linear displacement member, such as the I-beam 764, can be measured by an absolute positioning system, sensor arrangement, and position sensor 784. Because the I-beam 764 is coupled to a longitudinally movable drive member, the position of the I-beam 764 can be determined by measuring the position of the longitudinally movable drive member employing the position sensor 784. Accordingly, in the following description, the position, displacement, and/or translation of the I-beam 764 can be achieved by the position sensor 784 as described herein. A control circuit 760 may be programmed to control the translation of the displacement member, such as the I-beam 764. The control circuit 760, in some examples, may comprise one or more microcontrollers, microprocessors, or other suitable processors for executing instructions that cause the processor or processors to control the displacement member, e.g., the !-beam 764, in the manner described. In one aspect, a timer/counter 781 provides an output signal, such as the elapsed time or a digital count, to the control circuit 760 to correlate the position of the I-beam 764 as determined by the position sensor 784 with the output of the timer/counter 781 such that the control circuit 760 can determine the position of the I-beam 764 at a specific time (t) relative to a starting position. The timer/counter 781 may be configured to measure elapsed time, count external events, or time external events.
The control circuit 760 may generate a motor set point signal 772. The motor set point signal 772 may be provided to a motor controller 758. The motor controller 758 may comprise one or more circuits configured to provide a motor drive signal 774 to the motor 754 to drive the motor 754 as described herein. In some examples, the motor 754 may be a brushed DC electric motor. For example, the velocity of the motor 754 may be proportional to the motor drive signal 774. In some examples, the motor 754 may be a brushless DC electric motor and the motor drive signal 774 may comprise a PWM signal provided to one or more stator windings of the motor 754. Also, in some examples, the motor controller 758 may be omitted, and the control circuit 760 may generate the motor drive signal 774 directly.
The motor 754 may receive power from an energy source 762. The energy source 762 may be or include a battery, a super capacitor, or any other suitable energy source. The motor 754 may be mechanically coupled to the I-beam 764 via a transmission 756. The transmission 756 may include one or more gears or other linkage components to couple the motor 754 to the I-beam 764. A position sensor 784 may sense a position of the I-beam 764. The position sensor 784 may be or include any type of sensor that is capable of generating position data that indicate a position of the I-beam 764. In some examples, the position sensor 784 may include an encoder configured to provide a series of pulses to the control circuit 760 as the I-beam 764 translates distally and proximally. The control circuit 760 may track the pulses to determine the position of the I-beam 764. Other suitable position sensors may be used, including, for example, a proximity sensor. Other types of position sensors may provide other signals indicating motion of the I-beam 764. Also, in some examples, the position sensor 784 may be omitted. Where the motor 754 is a stepper motor, the control circuit 760 may track the position of the I-beam 764 by aggregating the number and direction of steps that the motor 754 has been instructed to execute. The position sensor 784 may be located in the end effector 752 or at any other portion of the instrument.
The control circuit 760 may be in communication with one or more sensors 788. The sensors 788 may be positioned on the end effector 752 and adapted to operate with the surgical instrument 750 to measure the various derived parameters such as gap distance versus time, tissue compression versus time, and anvil strain versus time. The sensors 788 may comprise a magnetic sensor, a magnetic field sensor, a strain gauge, a pressure sensor, a force sensor, an inductive sensor such as an eddy current sensor, a resistive sensor, a capacitive sensor, an optical sensor, and/or any other suitable sensor for measuring one or more parameters of the end effector 752. The sensors 788 may include one or more sensors.
The one or more sensors 788 may comprise a strain gauge, such as a micro-strain gauge, configured to measure the magnitude of the strain in the anvil 766 during a clamped condition. The strain gauge provides an electrical signal whose amplitude varies with the magnitude of the strain. The sensors 788 may comprise a pressure sensor configured to detect a pressure generated by the presence of compressed tissue between the anvil 766 and the staple cartridge 768. The sensors 788 may be configured to detect impedance of a tissue section located between the anvil 766 and the staple cartridge 768 that is indicative of the thickness and/or fullness of tissue located therebetween.
The sensors 788 may be is configured to measure forces exerted on the anvil 766 by a closure drive system. For example, one or more sensors 788 can be at an interaction point between a closure tube and the anvil 766 to detect the closure forces applied by a closure tube to the anvil 766. The forces exerted on the anvil 766 can be representative of the tissue compression experienced by the tissue section captured between the anvil 766 and the staple cartridge 768. The one or more sensors 788 can be positioned at various interaction points along the closure drive system to detect the closure forces applied to the anvil 766 by the closure drive system. The one or more sensors 788 may be sampled in real time during a clamping operation by a processor of the control circuit 760. The control circuit 760 receives real-time sample measurements to provide and analyze time-based information and assess, in real time, closure forces applied to the anvil 766.
A current sensor 786 can be employed to measure the current drawn by the motor 754. The force required to advance the I-beam 764 corresponds to the current drawn by the motor 754. The force is converted to a digital signal and provided to the control circuit 760.
The control circuit 760 can be configured to simulate the response of the actual system of the instrument in the software of the controller. A displacement member can be actuated to move an !-beam 764 in the end effector 752 at or near a target velocity. The surgical instrument 750 can include a feedback controller, which can be one of any feedback controllers, including, but not limited to a PID, a state feedback, LQR, and/or an adaptive controller, for example. The surgical instrument 750 can include a power source to convert the signal from the feedback controller into a physical input such as case voltage, PWM voltage, frequency modulated voltage, current, torque, and/or force, for example.
The actual drive system of the surgical instrument 750 is configured to drive the displacement member, cutting member, or I-beam 764, by a brushed DC motor with gearbox and mechanical links to an articulation and/or knife system. Another example is the electric motor 754 that operates the displacement member and the articulation driver, for example, of an interchangeable shaft assembly. An outside influence is an unmeasured, unpredictable influence of things like tissue, surrounding bodies and friction on the physical system. Such outside influence can be referred to as drag which acts in opposition to the electric motor 754. The outside influence, such as drag, may cause the operation of the physical system to deviate from a desired operation of the physical system.
Various example aspects are directed to a surgical instrument 750 comprising an end effector 752 with motor-driven surgical stapling and cutting implements. For example, a motor 754 may drive a displacement member distally and proximally along a longitudinal axis of the end effector 752. The end effector 752 may comprise a pivotable anvil 766 and, when configured for use, a staple cartridge 768 positioned opposite the anvil 766. A clinician may grasp tissue between the anvil 766 and the staple cartridge 768, as described herein. When ready to use the instrument 750, the clinician may provide a firing signal, for example by depressing a trigger of the instrument 750. In response to the firing signal, the motor 754 may drive the displacement member distally along the longitudinal axis of the end effector 752 from a proximal stroke begin position to a stroke end position distal of the stroke begin position. As the displacement member translates distally, an I-beam 764 with a cutting element positioned at a distal end, may cut the tissue between the staple cartridge 768 and the anvil 766.
In various examples, the surgical instrument 750 may comprise a control circuit 760 programmed to control the distal translation of the displacement member, such as the I-beam 764, for example, based on one or more tissue conditions. The control circuit 760 may be programmed to sense tissue conditions, such as thickness, either directly or indirectly, as described herein. The control circuit 760 may be programmed to select a firing control program based on tissue conditions. A firing control program may describe the distal motion of the displacement member. Different firing control programs may be selected to better treat different tissue conditions. For example, when thicker tissue is present, the control circuit 760 may be programmed to translate the displacement member at a lower velocity and/or with lower power. When thinner tissue is present, the control circuit 760 may be programmed to translate the displacement member at a higher velocity and/or with higher power.
In some examples, the control circuit 760 may initially operate the motor 754 in an open loop configuration for a first open loop portion of a stroke of the displacement member. Based on a response of the instrument 750 during the open loop portion of the stroke, the control circuit 760 may select a firing control program. The response of the instrument may include, a translation distance of the displacement member during the open loop portion, a time elapsed during the open loop portion, energy provided to the motor 754 during the open loop portion, a sum of pulse widths of a motor drive signal, etc. After the open loop portion, the control circuit 760 may implement the selected firing control program for a second portion of the displacement member stroke. For example, during the closed loop portion of the stroke, the control circuit 760 may modulate the motor 754 based on translation data describing a position of the displacement member in a closed loop manner to translate the displacement member at a constant velocity. Additional details are disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/720,852, titled SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR CONTROLLING A DISPLAY OF A SURGICAL INSTRUMENT, filed Sep. 29, 2017, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
In one aspect, sensors 788 may be implemented as a limit switch, electromechanical device, solid-state switches, Hall-effect devices, MR devices, GMR devices, magnetometers, among others. In other implementations, the sensors 638 may be solid-state switches that operate under the influence of light, such as optical sensors, IR sensors, ultraviolet sensors, among others. Still, the switches may be solid-state devices such as transistors (e.g., FET, junction FET, MOSFET, bipolar, and the like). In other implementations, the sensors 788 may include electrical conductorless switches, ultrasonic switches, accelerometers, and inertial sensors, among others.
In one aspect, the position sensor 784 may be implemented as an absolute positioning system comprising a magnetic rotary absolute positioning system implemented as an AS5055EQFT single-chip magnetic rotary position sensor available from Austria Microsystems, AG. The position sensor 784 may interface with the control circuit 760 to provide an absolute positioning system. The position may include multiple Hall-effect elements located above a magnet and coupled to a CORDIC processor, also known as the digit-by-digit method and Volder's algorithm, that is provided to implement a simple and efficient algorithm to calculate hyperbolic and trigonometric functions that require only addition, subtraction, bitshift, and table lookup operations.
In one aspect, the I-beam 764 may be implemented as a knife member comprising a knife body that operably supports a tissue cutting blade thereon and may further include anvil engagement tabs or features and channel engagement features or a foot. In one aspect, the staple cartridge 768 may be implemented as a standard (mechanical) surgical fastener cartridge. In one aspect, the RF cartridge 796 may be implemented as an RF cartridge. These and other sensors arrangements are described in commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/628,175, titled TECHNIQUES FOR ADAPTIVE CONTROL OF MOTOR VELOCITY OF A SURGICAL STAPLING AND CUTTING INSTRUMENT, filed Jun. 20, 2017, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The position, movement, displacement, and/or translation of a linear displacement member, such as the I-beam 764, can be measured by an absolute positioning system, sensor arrangement, and position sensor represented as position sensor 784. Because the I-beam 764 is coupled to the longitudinally movable drive member, the position of the I-beam 764 can be determined by measuring the position of the longitudinally movable drive member employing the position sensor 784. Accordingly, in the following description, the position, displacement, and/or translation of the I-beam 764 can be achieved by the position sensor 784 as described herein. A control circuit 760 may be programmed to control the translation of the displacement member, such as the I-beam 764, as described herein. The control circuit 760, in some examples, may comprise one or more microcontrollers, microprocessors, or other suitable processors for executing instructions that cause the processor or processors to control the displacement member, e.g., the I-beam 764, in the manner described. In one aspect, a timer/counter 781 provides an output signal, such as the elapsed time or a digital count, to the control circuit 760 to correlate the position of the I-beam 764 as determined by the position sensor 784 with the output of the timer/counter 781 such that the control circuit 760 can determine the position of the I-beam 764 at a specific time (t) relative to a starting position. The timer/counter 781 may be configured to measure elapsed time, count external events, or time external events.
The control circuit 760 may generate a motor set point signal 772. The motor set point signal 772 may be provided to a motor controller 758. The motor controller 758 may comprise one or more circuits configured to provide a motor drive signal 774 to the motor 754 to drive the motor 754 as described herein. In some examples, the motor 754 may be a brushed DC electric motor. For example, the velocity of the motor 754 may be proportional to the motor drive signal 774. In some examples, the motor 754 may be a brushless DC electric motor and the motor drive signal 774 may comprise a PWM signal provided to one or more stator windings of the motor 754. Also, in some examples, the motor controller 758 may be omitted, and the control circuit 760 may generate the motor drive signal 774 directly.
The motor 754 may receive power from an energy source 762. The energy source 762 may be or include a battery, a super capacitor, or any other suitable energy source. The motor 754 may be mechanically coupled to the I-beam 764 via a transmission 756. The transmission 756 may include one or more gears or other linkage components to couple the motor 754 to the I-beam 764. A position sensor 784 may sense a position of the I-beam 764. The position sensor 784 may be or include any type of sensor that is capable of generating position data that indicate a position of the I-beam 764. In some examples, the position sensor 784 may include an encoder configured to provide a series of pulses to the control circuit 760 as the I-beam 764 translates distally and proximally. The control circuit 760 may track the pulses to determine the position of the I-beam 764. Other suitable position sensors may be used, including, for example, a proximity sensor. Other types of position sensors may provide other signals indicating motion of the I-beam 764. Also, in some examples, the position sensor 784 may be omitted. Where the motor 754 is a stepper motor, the control circuit 760 may track the position of the I-beam 764 by aggregating the number and direction of steps that the motor has been instructed to execute. The position sensor 784 may be located in the end effector 792 or at any other portion of the instrument.
The control circuit 760 may be in communication with one or more sensors 788. The sensors 788 may be positioned on the end effector 792 and adapted to operate with the surgical instrument 790 to measure the various derived parameters such as gap distance versus time, tissue compression versus time, and anvil strain versus time. The sensors 788 may comprise a magnetic sensor, a magnetic field sensor, a strain gauge, a pressure sensor, a force sensor, an inductive sensor such as an eddy current sensor, a resistive sensor, a capacitive sensor, an optical sensor, and/or any other suitable sensor for measuring one or more parameters of the end effector 792. The sensors 788 may include one or more sensors.
The one or more sensors 788 may comprise a strain gauge, such as a micro-strain gauge, configured to measure the magnitude of the strain in the anvil 766 during a clamped condition. The strain gauge provides an electrical signal whose amplitude varies with the magnitude of the strain. The sensors 788 may comprise a pressure sensor configured to detect a pressure generated by the presence of compressed tissue between the anvil 766 and the staple cartridge 768. The sensors 788 may be configured to detect impedance of a tissue section located between the anvil 766 and the staple cartridge 768 that is indicative of the thickness and/or fullness of tissue located therebetween.
The sensors 788 may be is configured to measure forces exerted on the anvil 766 by the closure drive system. For example, one or more sensors 788 can be at an interaction point between a closure tube and the anvil 766 to detect the closure forces applied by a closure tube to the anvil 766. The forces exerted on the anvil 766 can be representative of the tissue compression experienced by the tissue section captured between the anvil 766 and the staple cartridge 768. The one or more sensors 788 can be positioned at various interaction points along the closure drive system to detect the closure forces applied to the anvil 766 by the closure drive system. The one or more sensors 788 may be sampled in real time during a clamping operation by a processor portion of the control circuit 760. The control circuit 760 receives real-time sample measurements to provide and analyze time-based information and assess, in real time, closure forces applied to the anvil 766.
A current sensor 786 can be employed to measure the current drawn by the motor 754. The force required to advance the I-beam 764 corresponds to the current drawn by the motor 754. The force is converted to a digital signal and provided to the control circuit 760.
An RF energy source 794 is coupled to the end effector 792 and is applied to the RF cartridge 796 when the RF cartridge 796 is loaded in the end effector 792 in place of the staple cartridge 768. The control circuit 760 controls the delivery of the RF energy to the RF cartridge 796.
Additional details are disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/636,096, titled SURGICAL SYSTEM COUPLABLE WITH STAPLE CARTRIDGE AND RADIO FREQUENCY CARTRIDGE, AND METHOD OF USING SAME, filed Jun. 28, 2017, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
For example, as shown in the stroke length graph 20740, the stroke length of the closure tube assembly to close the jaws is approximately 0.250 inches when the end effector is not articulated, and the compensated stroke length is approximately 0.242 inches when the articulation angle θ is approximately 60 degrees. Such measurements are provided as examples only and can include any of a variety of angles and corresponding stroke lengths and compensated stroke lengths without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Furthermore, the relationship between the articulation angles 6 and compensated stroke lengths is non-linear and the rate at which the compensated stroke length shortens increases as the articulation angle increases. For example, the decrease in compensated stroke lengths between 45 degrees and 60 degrees articulation is greater than the decrease in compensated stroke lengths between zero degrees and 15 degrees articulation. Although with this approach the control system is adjusting the stroke length based on the articulation angle θ to prevent damage to the surgical device (e.g., jamming the distal end of the closure tube assembly in a distal position), the distal closure tube is still allowed to advance during articulation, thereby potentially at least partly closing the jaws.
For example, as shown in the closure tube assembly positioning graph 20750, the compensation distance when the end effector is not articulated is zero and the compensation distance when the articulation angle θ is approximately 60 degrees is approximately 0.008 inches. In this example, the closure tube assembly is retracted by a 0.008 inch compensation distance during articulation. As such, to close the jaws, the closure tube assembly can advance the stoke length starting from this retracted position. Such measurements are provided for example purposes only and can include any of a variety of angles and corresponding compensation distances without departing from the scope of the disclosure. As shown in
When clamping patient tissue, forces exerted through the clamping device, e.g., a linear stapler, and the tissue may reach an unacceptably high level. For example, when a constant closure rate is employed, the force may become high enough to cause excess trauma to the clamped tissue and may cause deformation in the clamping device such that an acceptable tissue gap is not maintained across the stapling path.
In
The limiting of power is achieved in the example with CTC by slowing the closing rate, as illustrated by line 20760. It is noted that the compression time B′ is longer than the closing time B. As illustrated in
In some aspects, a control system can include a plurality of predefined force thresholds that assist the control system in determining a position of an E-beam and/or articulation angle of a firing shaft and appropriately controlling at least one motor based on such determination. For example, the force thresholds can change depending on a length of travel of the firing bar configured to translate the firing shaft, and such force thresholds can be compared to a measured torsional force of the one or more motors in communication with the control system. Comparison of the measured torsional forces against the force thresholds can provide a dependable way for the control system to determine a location of the E-beam and/or articulation of the end effector. This can allow the control system to appropriately control the one or more motors (e.g., reduce or stop torsional loads) to ensure proper firing of the firing assembly and articulation of the end effector, as well as prevent against damage to the system, as will be described in greater detail below.
After the firing bar advances past the articulation range 20902, a shifting mechanism within the surgical stapler can cause further distal travel of the firing bar to cause distal travel of the firing shaft. For example, as shown in section B, travel between approximately 12 mm and 70 mm of travel displacement can cause the E-beam to advance along a firing stroke 20904 and cut tissue captured between the jaws, however, other lengths of travel are within the scope of this disclosure. In this example, a maximum firing stroke position 20906 of the E-beam occurs at 70 mm travel. At this point, the E-beam or knife abuts a distal end of the cartridge or jaw thereby increasing torsional forces on the motor and causing a knife travel force peak 20806, as shown in section A, to be sensed by the control system. As shown in section A, the control system can include a motor threshold 20808 and an end of knife travel threshold 20810 that branches off from the motor threshold 20808 and decreases (e.g., non-linearly) as the E-beam approaches the maximum firing stroke position 20906.
The control system can be configured to monitor the sensed motor torsional force during at least the last part of distal travel 20907 (e.g., last 10 percent of the firing stroke 904) of the E-beam before reaching the maximum firing stroke position 20906. While monitoring along such last part of distal travel 20907, the control system can cause the motor to reduce torsional forces to thereby reduce the load on the E-beam. This can protect damage to the surgical stapler, including the E-beam, by reducing loads on the E-beam as the E-beam approaches the maximum firing stroke position 20906 thereby reducing impact of the E-beam against the distal end of the cartridge or jaw. As mentioned above, such impact can cause a knife travel force peak 20806, which can exceed the knife travel threshold 20810 but not the motor threshold 20808 thereby not damaging the motor. As such, the control system can stop actuation of the motor after the knife travel force peak 20806 exceeds the knife travel threshold 20810 and before the knife travel force peak 20806 exceeds the motor threshold 20808 thereby protecting the motor from damage. Furthermore, the increasing reduction in the knife travel threshold 20810 prevents the control system from preliminarily thinking that the E-beam has reached the maximum firing stroke position 20906.
After the control system has detected a knife travel force peak 20806 exceeding the knife travel threshold 20810, the control system can confirm a position of the E-beam (e.g., at 70 mm displacement and/or at end of firing stroke 20904) and can retract the firing bar based on such known displacement position to reset the E-beam in a most proximal position 20908 (e.g., 0 mm displacement). At the most proximal position 20908, a knife retraction force peak 20812 that exceeds a predefined knife retraction threshold 20814, as shown in section A, can be sensed by the control system. At this point, the control system can recalibrate, if needed, and associate the position of the E-beam as being in a home position where subsequent advancement of the firing rod in the distal direction (e.g., approximately 12 mm in length) will cause the shifter to disengage the E-beam from the firing bar. Once disengaged, firing bar travel within the articulation range 20902 will again cause articulation of the end effector.
As such, the control system can sense torsional forces on the motor controlling travel of the firing bar and compare such sensed torsional forces against a plurality of thresholds to determine a position of the E-beam or angle of articulation of the end effector and thereby appropriately control the motor to prevent damage to the motor, as well as confirm positioning of the firing bar and/or E-beam.
As described supra, tissue contact or pressure sensors determine when the jaw members initially come into contact with the tissue “T”. This enables a surgeon to determine the initial thickness of the tissue “T” and/or the thickness of the tissue “T” prior to clamping. In any of the surgical instrument aspects described above, as seen in
Any of the contact sensors disclosed herein may include, and are not limited to, electrical contacts placed on an inner surface of a jaw which, when in contact with tissue, close a sensing circuit that is otherwise open. The contact sensors may also include sensitive force transducers that detect when the tissue being clamped first resists compression. Force transducers may include, and are not limited to, piezoelectric elements, piezoresistive elements, metal film or semiconductor strain gauges, inductive pressure sensors, capacitive pressure sensors, and potentiometric pressure transducers that use bourbon tubes, capsules or bellows to drive a wiper arm on a resistive element.
In an aspect, any one of the aforementioned surgical instruments may include one or more piezoelectric elements to detect a change in pressure occurring on the jaw members. Piezoelectric elements are bi-directional transducers which convert stress into an electrical potential. Elements may consist of metallized quartz or ceramics. In operation, when stress is applied to the crystals there is a change in the charge distribution of the material resulting in a generation of voltage across the material. Piezoelectric elements may be used to indicate when any one or both of the jaw members makes contact with the tissue “T” and the amount of pressure exerted on the tissue “T” after contact is established.
In an aspect, any one of the aforementioned surgical instruments may include or be provided with one or more metallic strain gauges placed within or upon a portion of the body thereof. Metallic strain gauges operate on the principle that the resistance of the material depends upon length, width and thickness. Accordingly, when the material of the metallic strain gauge undergoes strain the resistance of the material changes. Thus, a resistor made of this material incorporated into a circuit will convert strain to a change in an electrical signal. Desirably, the strain gauge may be placed on the surgical instruments such that pressure applied to the tissue effects the strain gauge.
Alternatively, in another aspect, one or more semiconductor strain gauges may be used in a similar manner as the metallic strain gauge described above, although the mode of transduction differs. In operation, when a crystal lattice structure of the semiconductor strain gauge is deformed, as a result of an applied stress, the resistance of the material changes. This phenomenon is referred to as the piezoresistive effect.
In yet another aspect, any one of the aforementioned surgical instruments may include or be provided with one or more inductive pressure sensors to transduce pressure or force into motion of inductive elements relative to each other. This motion of the inductive elements relative to one another alters the overall inductance or inductive coupling. Capacitive pressure transducers similarly transduce pressure or force into motion of capacitive elements relative to each other altering the overall capacitance.
In still another aspect, any one of the aforementioned surgical instruments may include or be provided with one or more capacitive pressure transducers to transduce pressure or force into motion of capacitive elements relative to each other altering an overall capacitance.
In an aspect, any one of the aforementioned surgical instruments may include or be provided with one or more mechanical pressure transducers to transduce pressure or force into motion. In use, a motion of a mechanical element is used to deflect a pointer or dial on a gauge. This movement of the pointer or dial may be representative of the pressure or force applied to the tissue “T”. Examples of mechanical elements include and are not limited to bourbon tubes, capsules or bellows. By way of example, mechanical elements may be coupled with other measuring and/or sensing elements, such as a potentiometer pressure transducer. In this example the mechanical element is coupled with a wiper on the variable resistor. In use, pressure or force may be transduced into mechanical motion which deflects the wiper on the potentiometer thus changing the resistance to reflect the applied pressure or force.
The combination of the above aspects, in particular the combination of the gap and tissue contact sensors, provides the surgeon with feedback information and/or real-time information regarding the condition of the operative site and/or target tissue “T”. For example, information regarding the initial thickness of the tissue “T” may guide the surgeon in selecting an appropriate staple size, information regarding the clamped thickness of the tissue “T” may let the surgeon know if the selected staple will form properly, information relating to the initial thickness and clamped thickness of the tissue “T” may be used to determine the amount of compression or strain on the tissue “T”, and information relating to the strain on the tissue “T” may be used this strain to avoid compressing tissue to excessive strain values and/or stapling into tissue that has undergone excessive strain.
Additionally, force sensors may be used to provide the surgeon with the amount of pressure applied to the tissue. The surgeon may use this information to avoid applying excessive pressure on the tissue “T” or stapling into tissue “T” which has experienced excessive strain.
Certain aspects are shown and described to provide an understanding of the structure, function, manufacture, and use of the disclosed devices and methods. Features shown or described in one example may be combined with features of other examples and modifications and variations are within the scope of this disclosure.
The terms “proximal” and “distal” are relative to a clinician manipulating the handle of the surgical instrument where “proximal” refers to the portion closer to the clinician and “distal” refers to the portion located further from the clinician. For expediency, spatial terms “vertical,” “horizontal,” “up,” and “down” used with respect to the drawings are not intended to be limiting and/or absolute, because surgical instruments can used in many orientations and positions.
Example devices and methods are provided for performing laparoscopic and minimally invasive surgical procedures. Such devices and methods, however, can be used in other surgical procedures and applications including open surgical procedures, for example. The surgical instruments can be inserted into a through a natural orifice or through an incision or puncture hole formed in tissue. The working portions or end effector portions of the instruments can be inserted directly into the body or through an access device that has a working channel through which the end effector and elongated shaft of the surgical instrument can be advanced.
The handle assembly 150014 may comprise a pair of interconnectable handle housing segments 150016, 150018 interconnected by screws, snap features, adhesive, etc. The handle housing segments 150016, 150018 cooperate to form a pistol grip portion 150019 that can be gripped and manipulated by the clinician. The handle assembly 150014 operably supports a plurality of drive systems configured to generate and apply control motions to corresponding portions of the interchangeable shaft assembly that is operably attached thereto. A display may be provided below a cover 150045.
The handle assembly 150014 and the frame 150020 may operably support a firing drive system 150080 configured to apply firing motions to corresponding portions of the interchangeable shaft assembly attached thereto. The firing drive system 150080 may employ an electric motor 150082 located in the pistol grip portion 150019 of the handle assembly 150014. The electric motor 150082 may be a DC brushed motor having a maximum rotational speed of approximately 25,000 RPM, for example. In other arrangements, the motor may include a brushless motor, a cordless motor, a synchronous motor, a stepper motor, or any other suitable electric motor. The electric motor 150082 may be powered by a power source 150090 that may comprise a removable power pack 150092. The removable power pack 150092 may comprise a proximal housing portion 150094 configured to attach to a distal housing portion 150096. The proximal housing portion 150094 and the distal housing portion 150096 are configured to operably support a plurality of batteries 150098 therein. Batteries 150098 may each comprise, for example, a Lithium Ion (LI) or other suitable battery. The distal housing portion 150096 is configured for removable operable attachment to a control circuit board 150100, which is operably coupled to the electric motor 150082. Several batteries 150098 connected in series may power the surgical instrument 150010. The power source 150090 may be replaceable and/or rechargeable. A display 150043, which is located below the cover 150045, is electrically coupled to the control circuit board 150100. The cover 150045 may be removed to expose the display 150043.
The electric motor 150082 can include a rotatable shaft (not shown) that operably interfaces with a gear reducer assembly 150084 mounted in meshing engagement with a with a set, or rack, of drive teeth 150122 on a longitudinally movable drive member 150120. The longitudinally movable drive member 150120 has a rack of drive teeth 150122 formed thereon for meshing engagement with a corresponding drive gear 150086 of the gear reducer assembly 150084.
In use, a voltage polarity provided by the power source 150090 can operate the electric motor 150082 in a clockwise direction wherein the voltage polarity applied to the electric motor by the battery can be reversed in order to operate the electric motor 150082 in a counter-clockwise direction. When the electric motor 150082 is rotated in one direction, the longitudinally movable drive member 150120 will be axially driven in the distal direction “DD.” When the electric motor 150082 is driven in the opposite rotary direction, the longitudinally movable drive member 150120 will be axially driven in a proximal direction “PD.” The handle assembly 150014 can include a switch that can be configured to reverse the polarity applied to the electric motor 150082 by the power source 150090. The handle assembly 150014 may include a sensor configured to detect the position of the longitudinally movable drive member 150120 and/or the direction in which the longitudinally movable drive member 150120 is being moved.
Actuation of the electric motor 150082 can be controlled by a firing trigger 150130 that is pivotally supported on the handle assembly 150014. The firing trigger 150130 may be pivoted between an unactuated position and an actuated position.
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The interchangeable shaft assembly 150200 can include a clutch assembly 150400 configured to selectively and releasably couple the articulation driver 150230 to the firing member 150220. The clutch assembly 150400 includes a lock collar, or lock sleeve 150402, positioned around the firing member 150220 wherein the lock sleeve 150402 can be rotated between an engaged position in which the lock sleeve 150402 couples the articulation driver 150230 to the firing member 150220 and a disengaged position in which the articulation driver 150230 is not operably coupled to the firing member 150220. When the lock sleeve 150402 is in the engaged position, distal movement of the firing member 150220 can move the articulation driver 150230 distally and, correspondingly, proximal movement of the firing member 150220 can move the articulation driver 150230 proximally. When the lock sleeve 150402 is in the disengaged position, movement of the firing member 150220 is not transmitted to the articulation driver 150230 and, as a result, the firing member 150220 can move independently of the articulation driver 150230. The nozzle 150201 may be employed to operably engage and disengage the articulation drive system with the firing drive system in the various manners described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0263541.
The interchangeable shaft assembly 150200 can comprise a slip ring assembly 150600 which can be configured to conduct electrical power to and/or from the end effector 150300 and/or communicate signals to and/or from the end effector 150300, for example. The slip ring assembly 150600 can comprise a proximal connector flange 150604 and a distal connector flange 150601 positioned within a slot defined in the nozzle portions 150202, 150203. The proximal connector flange 150604 can comprise a first face and the distal connector flange 150601 can comprise a second face positioned adjacent to and movable relative to the first face. The distal connector flange 150601 can rotate relative to the proximal connector flange 150604 about the shaft axis SA-SA (
The interchangeable shaft assembly 150200 can include a proximal portion fixably mounted to the handle assembly 150014 and a distal portion that is rotatable about a longitudinal axis. The rotatable distal shaft portion can be rotated relative to the proximal portion about the slip ring assembly 150600. The distal connector flange 150601 of the slip ring assembly 150600 can be positioned within the rotatable distal shaft portion.
The I-beam 150178 can include upper pins 150180 that engage the anvil 150306 during firing. The I-beam 150178 may include middle pins 150184 and a bottom foot 150186 to engage portions of the cartridge body 150194, cartridge tray 150196, and elongated channel 150302. When a surgical staple cartridge 150304 is positioned within the elongated channel 150302, a slot 150193 defined in the cartridge body 150194 can be aligned with a longitudinal slot 150197 defined in the cartridge tray 150196 and a slot 150189 defined in the elongated channel 150302. In use, the I-beam 150178 can slide through the aligned longitudinal slots 150193, 150197, and 150189 wherein, as indicated in
The shaft assembly 150704 may include a shaft assembly controller 150722 which can communicate with a safety controller and power management controller 150716 through an interface while the shaft assembly 150704 and the power assembly 150706 are coupled to the handle assembly 150702. For example, the interface may comprise a first interface portion 150725 which may include one or more electric connectors for coupling engagement with corresponding shaft assembly electric connectors and a second interface portion 150727 which may include one or more electric connectors for coupling engagement with corresponding power assembly electric connectors to permit electrical communication between the shaft assembly controller 150722 and the power management controller 150716 while the shaft assembly 150704 and the power assembly 150706 are coupled to the handle assembly 150702. One or more communication signals can be transmitted through the interface to communicate one or more of the power requirements of the attached interchangeable shaft assembly 150704 to the power management controller 150716. In response, the power management controller may modulate the power output of the battery of the power assembly 150706, as described below in greater detail, in accordance with the power requirements of the attached shaft assembly 150704. The connectors may comprise switches which can be activated after mechanical coupling engagement of the handle assembly 150702 to the shaft assembly 150704 and/or to the power assembly 150706 to allow electrical communication between the shaft assembly controller 150722 and the power management controller 150716.
The interface can facilitate transmission of the one or more communication signals between the power management controller 150716 and the shaft assembly controller 150722 by routing such communication signals through a main controller 150717 residing in the handle assembly 150702, for example. In other circumstances, the interface can facilitate a direct line of communication between the power management controller 150716 and the shaft assembly controller 150722 through the handle assembly 150702 while the shaft assembly 150704 and the power assembly 150706 are coupled to the handle assembly 150702.
The main controller 150717 may be any single core or multicore processor such as those known under the trade name ARM Cortex by Texas Instruments. In one aspect, the main controller 150717 may be an LM4F230H5QR ARM Cortex-M4F Processor Core, available from Texas Instruments, for example, comprising on-chip memory of 256 KB single-cycle flash memory, or other non-volatile memory, up to 40 MHz, a prefetch buffer to improve performance above 40 MHz, a 32 KB single-cycle serial random access memory (SRAM), internal read-only memory (ROM) loaded with StellarisWare® software, 2 KB electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), one or more pulse width modulation (PWM) modules, one or more quadrature encoder inputs (QEI) analog, one or more 12-bit Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADC) with 12 analog input channels, details of which are available for the product datasheet.
The safety controller may be a safety controller platform comprising two controller-based families such as TMS570 and RM4x known under the trade name Hercules ARM Cortex R4, also by Texas Instruments. The safety controller may be configured specifically for IEC 61508 and ISO 26262 safety critical applications, among others, to provide advanced integrated safety features while delivering scalable performance, connectivity, and memory options.
The power assembly 150706 may include a power management circuit which may comprise the power management controller 150716, a power modulator 150738, and a current sense circuit 150736. The power management circuit can be configured to modulate power output of the battery based on the power requirements of the shaft assembly 150704 while the shaft assembly 150704 and the power assembly 150706 are coupled to the handle assembly 150702. The power management controller 150716 can be programmed to control the power modulator 150738 of the power output of the power assembly 150706 and the current sense circuit 150736 can be employed to monitor power output of the power assembly 150706 to provide feedback to the power management controller 150716 about the power output of the battery so that the power management controller 150716 may adjust the power output of the power assembly 150706 to maintain a desired output. The power management controller 150716 and/or the shaft assembly controller 150722 each may comprise one or more processors and/or memory units which may store a number of software modules.
The surgical instrument 150010 (
The control circuit 150700 comprises circuit segments configured to control operations of the powered surgical instrument 150010. A safety controller segment (Segment 1) comprises a safety controller and the main controller 150717 segment (Segment 2). The safety controller and/or the main controller 150717 are configured to interact with one or more additional circuit segments such as an acceleration segment, a display segment, a shaft segment, an encoder segment, a motor segment, and a power segment. Each of the circuit segments may be coupled to the safety controller and/or the main controller 150717. The main controller 150717 is also coupled to a flash memory. The main controller 150717 also comprises a serial communication interface. The main controller 150717 comprises a plurality of inputs coupled to, for example, one or more circuit segments, a battery, and/or a plurality of switches. The segmented circuit may be implemented by any suitable circuit, such as, for example, a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) within the powered surgical instrument 150010. It should be understood that the term processor as used herein includes any microprocessor, processors, controller, controllers, or other basic computing device that incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit (CPU) on an integrated circuit or at most a few integrated circuits. The main controller 150717 is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and provides results as output. It is an example of sequential digital logic, as it has internal memory. The control circuit 150700 can be configured to implement one or more of the processes described herein.
The acceleration segment (Segment 3) comprises an accelerometer. The accelerometer is configured to detect movement or acceleration of the powered surgical instrument 150010. Input from the accelerometer may be used to transition to and from a sleep mode, identify an orientation of the powered surgical instrument, and/or identify when the surgical instrument has been dropped. In some examples, the acceleration segment is coupled to the safety controller and/or the main controller 150717.
The display segment (Segment 4) comprises a display connector coupled to the main controller 150717. The display connector couples the main controller 150717 to a display through one or more integrated circuit drivers of the display. The integrated circuit drivers of the display may be integrated with the display and/or may be located separately from the display. The display may comprise any suitable display, such as, for example, an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display, a liquid-crystal display (LCD), and/or any other suitable display. In some examples, the display segment is coupled to the safety controller.
The shaft segment (Segment 5) comprises controls for an interchangeable shaft assembly 150200 (
The position encoder segment (Segment 6) comprises one or more magnetic angle rotary position encoders. The one or more magnetic angle rotary position encoders are configured to identify the rotational position of the motor 150714, an interchangeable shaft assembly 150200 (
The motor circuit segment (Segment 7) comprises a motor 150714 configured to control movements of the powered surgical instrument 150010 (
The motor controller controls a first motor flag and a second motor flag to indicate the status and position of the motor 150714 to the main controller 150717. The main controller 150717 provides a pulse-width modulation (PWM) high signal, a PWM low signal, a direction signal, a synchronize signal, and a motor reset signal to the motor controller through a buffer. The power segment is configured to provide a segment voltage to each of the circuit segments.
The power segment (Segment 8) comprises a battery coupled to the safety controller, the main controller 150717, and additional circuit segments. The battery is coupled to the segmented circuit by a battery connector and a current sensor. The current sensor is configured to measure the total current draw of the segmented circuit. In some examples, one or more voltage converters are configured to provide predetermined voltage values to one or more circuit segments. For example, in some examples, the segmented circuit may comprise 3.3V voltage converters and/or 5V voltage converters. A boost converter is configured to provide a boost voltage up to a predetermined amount, such as, for example, up to 13V. The boost converter is configured to provide additional voltage and/or current during power intensive operations and prevent brownout or low-power conditions.
A plurality of switches are coupled to the safety controller and/or the main controller 150717. The switches may be configured to control operations of the surgical instrument 150010 (
Any suitable mechanical, electromechanical, or solid state switches may be employed to implement the plurality of switches, in any combination. For example, the switches may be limit switches operated by the motion of components associated with the surgical instrument 150010 (FIGS. 25 to 28) or the presence of an object. Such switches may be employed to control various functions associated with the surgical instrument 150010. A limit switch is an electromechanical device that consists of an actuator mechanically linked to a set of contacts. When an object comes into contact with the actuator, the device operates the contacts to make or break an electrical connection. Limit switches are used in a variety of applications and environments because of their ruggedness, ease of installation, and reliability of operation. They can determine the presence or absence, passing, positioning, and end of travel of an object. In other implementations, the switches may be solid state switches that operate under the influence of a magnetic field such as Hall-effect devices, magneto-resistive (MR) devices, giant magneto-resistive (GMR) devices, magnetometers, among others. In other implementations, the switches may be solid state switches that operate under the influence of light, such as optical sensors, infrared sensors, ultraviolet sensors, among others. Still, the switches may be solid state devices such as transistors (e.g., FET, Junction-FET, metal-oxide semiconductor-FET (MOSFET), bipolar, and the like). Other switches may include wireless switches, ultrasonic switches, accelerometers, inertial sensors, among others.
The surgical instrument 150010 (
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The compression through tissue 151032 may be determined from an impedance of tissue 151032. At various levels of compression, the impedance Z of tissue 151032 may increase or decrease. By applying a voltage V and a current I to the tissue 151032, the impedance Z of the tissue 151032 may be determined at various levels of compression. For example, impedance Z may be calculated by dividing the applied voltage V by the current I.
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A voltage V and a current I associated with the one or more RF signals may be used to calculate an impedance Z associated with a tissue that may be compressed between the staple cartridge (and communicatively coupled to one or more RF electrodes 151260) and the channel frame or anvil (and communicatively coupled to one or more of electrical contacts 151264 or 151266).
In one aspect, various components of the tissue compression sensor system described herein may be located in a shaft 151258 of the surgical stapler. For example, as shown in circuit diagram 151250 (and in addition to the frequency generator 151254), an impedance calculator 151272, a controller 151274, a non-volatile memory 151276, and a communication channel 151278 may be located in the shaft 151258. In one example, the frequency generator 151254, impedance calculator 151272, controller 151274, non-volatile memory 151276, and communication channel 151278 may be positioned on a circuit board in the shaft 151258.
The two or more RF signals may be returned on a common path via the electrical contacts. Further, the two or more RF signals may be filtered prior to the joining of the RF signals on the common path to differentiate separate tissue impedances represented by the two or more RF signals. Current I1 and current I2 may be measured on a return path corresponding to electrical contacts 151264 and 151266. Using a voltage V applied between the supply and return paths, impedances Z1 and Z2 may be calculated. Z1 may correspond to an impedance of a tissue compressed and/or communicatively coupled between one or more of RF electrodes 151260 and electrical contact 151264. Further, Z2 may correspond to an impedance of the tissue compressed and/or communicatively coupled between one or more of RF electrodes 151260 and electrical contact 151266. Applying the formulas Z1=V/I1 and Z2=V/I2, impedances Z1 and Z2 corresponding to different compressions of a tissue compressed by an end-effector 151262 may be calculated. In example, the impedances Z1 and Z2 may be calculated by the impedance calculator 151272. The impedances Z1 and Z2 may be used to calculate various compression levels of the tissue.
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In one aspect, filters 151268 and 151270 may be High Q filters such that the filter range may be narrow (e.g., Q=10). Q may be defined by the Center frequency (Wo)/Bandwidth (BW) where Q=Wo/BW. In one example, Frequency 1 may be 150 kHz and Frequency 2 may be 300 kHz. A viable impedance measurement range may be 100 kHz-20 MHz. In various examples, other sophisticated techniques, such as correlation, quadrature detection, etc., may be used to separate the RF signals.
Using one or more of the techniques and features described herein, a single energized electrode on a staple cartridge or an isolated knife of an end-effector may be used to make multiple tissue compression measurements simultaneously. If two or more RF signals are overlaid or multiplexed (or nested or modulated), they may be transmitted down a single power side of the end-effector and may return on either the channel frame or the anvil of the end-effector. If a filter were built into the anvil and channel contacts before they join a common return path, the tissue impedance represented by both paths could be differentiated. This may provide a measure of vertical tissue vs lateral tissue compression. This approach also may provide proximal and distal tissue compression depending on placement of the filters and location of the metallic return paths. A frequency generator and signal processor may be located on one or more chips on a circuit board or a sub board (which may already exist in a surgical stapler).
In one aspect, the present disclosure provides an instrument 150010 (described in connection with
The rate of change of a sensed parameter or stated otherwise, how much time is necessary for a tissue parameter to reach an asymptotic steady state value, is a separate measurement in itself and may be more valuable than the sensed parameter it was derived from. To enhance measurement of tissue parameters such as waiting a predetermined amount of time before making a measurement, the present disclosure provides a novel technique for employing the derivate of the measure such as the rate of change of the tissue parameter.
The derivative technique or rate of change measure becomes most useful with the understanding that there is no single measurement that can be employed alone to dramatically improve staple formation. It is the combination of multiple measurements that make the measurements valid. In the case of tissue gap it is helpful to know how much of the jaw is covered with tissue to make the gap measure relevant. Rate of change measures of impedance may be combined with strain measurements in the anvil to relate force and compression applied to the tissue grasped between the jaw members of the end effector such as the anvil and the staple cartridge. The rate of change measure can be employed by the endosurgical device to determine the tissue type and not merely the tissue compression. Although stomach and lung tissue sometimes have similar thicknesses, and even similar compressive properties when the lung tissue is calcified, an instrument may be able to distinguish these tissue types by employing a combination of measurements such as gap, compression, force applied, tissue contact area, and rate of change of compression or rate of change of gap. If any of these measurements were used alone, it may be difficult for the endosurgical device to distinguish one tissue type form another. Rate of change of compression also may be helpful to enable the device to determine if the tissue is “normal” or if some abnormality exists. Measuring not only how much time has passed but the variation of the sensor signals and determining the derivative of the signal would provide another measurement to enable the endosurgical device to measure the signal. Rate of change information also may be employed in determining when a steady state has been achieved to signal the next step in a process. For example, after clamping the tissue between the jaw members of the end effector such as the anvil and the staple cartridge, when tissue compression reaches a steady state (e.g., about 15 seconds), an indicator or trigger to start firing the device can be enabled.
Also provided herein are methods, devices, and systems for time dependent evaluation of sensor data to determine stability, creep, and viscoelastic characteristics of tissue during surgical instrument operation. A surgical instrument, such as the stapler illustrated in
The examples shown in connection with
Turning now to
The housing 151312 depicted in
With continued reference to
The inventors have discovered that derived parameters can be even more useful for controlling a surgical instrument, such as the instrument illustrated in
For example, stomach and lung tissue can be differentiated even though these tissue can have similar thicknesses, and can have similar compressive properties if the lung tissue is calcified. Stomach and lung tissues can be distinguished by analyzing jaw gap distance, tissue compression, force applied, tissue contact area, compression rate of change, and jaw gap rate of change. For example,
Compression rate of change also can enable the microcontroller to determine if the tissue is “normal” or if some abnormality exists, such as calcification. For example, referring to
In addition, certain sensed measurements may benefit from additional sensory input. For example, in the case of jaw gap, knowing how much of the jaw is covered with tissue can make the gap measurement more useful and accurate. If a small portion of the jaw is covered in tissue, tissue compression may appear to be less than if the entire jaw is covered in tissue. Thus, the amount of jaw coverage can be taken into account by the microcontroller when analyzing tissue compression and other sensed parameters.
In certain circumstances, elapsed time also can be an important parameter. Measuring how much time has passed, together with sensed parameters, and derivative parameters (e.g., rate of change) provides further useful information. For example, if jaw gap rate of change remains constant after a set period of time (e.g., 5 seconds), then the parameter may have reached its asymptotic value.
Rate of change information also is useful in determining when a steady state has been achieved, thus signaling a next step in a process. For example, during clamping, when tissue compression reaches a steady state—e.g., no significant rate of change occurs after a set period of time—the microcontroller can send a signal to the display alerting the clinician to start the next step in the operation, such as staple firing. Alternatively, the microcontroller can be programmed to automatically start the next stage of operation (e.g., staple firing) once a steady state is reached.
Similarly, impedance rate of change can be combined with strain in the anvil to relate force and compression. The rate of change would allow the device to determine the tissue type rather than merely measure the compression value. For example, stomach and lung sometimes have similar thicknesses, and even similar compressive properties if the lung is calcified.
The combination of one or more sensed parameters with derived parameters provides more reliable and accurate assessment of tissue types and tissue health, and allows for better device monitoring, control, and clinician feedback.
The end effector 152000 comprises a second sensor 152008b. The second sensor 152008b is configured to measure one or more parameters of the end effector 152000. For example, in various embodiments, the second sensor 152008b may comprise a strain gauge configured to measure the magnitude of the strain in the anvil 152002 during a clamped condition. The strain gauge provides an electrical signal whose amplitude varies with the magnitude of the strain. In various embodiments, the first sensor 152008a and/or the second sensor 152008b may comprise, for example, a magnetic sensor such as, for example, a Hall effect sensor, a strain gauge, a pressure sensor, a force sensor, an inductive sensor such as, for example, an eddy current sensor, a resistive sensor, a capacitive sensor, an optical sensor, and/or any other suitable sensor for measuring one or more parameters of the end effector 152000. The first sensor 152008a and the second sensor 152008b may be arranged in a series configuration and/or a parallel configuration. In a series configuration, the second sensor 152008b may be configured to directly affect the output of the first sensor 152008a. In a parallel configuration, the second sensor 152008b may be configured to indirectly affect the output of the first sensor 152008a.
In one embodiment, the one or more parameters measured by the first sensor 152008a are related to the one or more parameters measured by the second sensor 152008b. For example, in one embodiment, the first sensor 152008a is configured to measure the gap 152010 between the anvil 152002 and the second jaw member 152004. The gap 152010 is representative of the thickness and/or compressibility of a tissue section clamped between the anvil 152002 and the staple cartridge 152006. The first sensor 152008a may comprise, for example, a Hall effect sensor configured to detect a magnetic field generated by the magnet 152012 coupled to the second jaw member 152004 and/or the staple cartridge 152006. Measuring at a single location accurately describes the compressed tissue thickness for a calibrated full bit of tissue, but may provide inaccurate results when a partial bite of tissue is placed between the anvil 152002 and the second jaw member 152004. A partial bite of tissue, either a proximal partial bite or a distal partial bite, changes the clamping geometry of the anvil 152002.
In some embodiments, the second sensor 152008b is configured to detect one or more parameters indicative of a type of tissue bite, for example, a full bite, a partial proximal bite, and/or a partial distal bite. The measurement of the second sensor 152008b may be used to adjust the measurement of the first sensor 152008a to accurately represent a proximal or distal positioned partial bite's true compressed tissue thickness. For example, in one embodiment, the second sensor 152008b comprises a strain gauge, such as, for example, a micro-strain gauge, configured to monitor the amplitude of the strain in the anvil during a clamped condition. The amplitude of the strain of the anvil 152002 is used to modify the output of the first sensor 152008a, for example, a Hall effect sensor, to accurately represent a proximal or distal positioned partial bite's true compressed tissue thickness. The first sensor 152008a and the second sensor 152008b may be measured in real-time during a clamping operation. Real-time measurement allows time based information to be analyzed, for example, by a primary processor (e.g., processor 462 (
In some embodiments, the thickness measurement of the first sensor 152008a may be provided to an output device of a surgical instrument 150010 coupled to the end effector 152000. For example, in one embodiment, the end effector 152000 is coupled to the surgical instrument 150010 comprising a display (e.g., display 473 (
In some embodiments, the first sensor 152008a and the second sensor 152008b may be located in different environments, such as, for example, the first sensor 152008a being located within a patient at a treatment site and the second sensor 152008b being located externally to the patient. The second sensor 152008b may be configured to calibrate and/or modify the output of the first sensor 152008a. The first sensor 152008a and/or the second sensor 152008b may comprise, for example, an environmental sensor. Environmental sensors may comprise, for example, temperature sensors, humidity sensors, pressure sensors, and/or any other suitable environmental sensor.
In some embodiments, the surgical instrument can further comprise a load cell or sensor 152082. The load sensor 152082 can be located, for instance, in the shaft assembly 150200, described above, or in the housing 150012, also described above.
In some embodiments, the end effector 152100 comprises a second sensor 152108b. The second sensor 152108b is coupled to second jaw member 152104 and/or the staple cartridge 152106. The second sensor 152108b is configured to detect one or more parameters of the end effector 152100. For example, in some embodiments, the second sensor 152108b is configured to detect one or more instrument conditions such as, for example, a color of the staple cartridge 152106 coupled to the second jaw member 152104, a length of the staple cartridge 152106, a clamping condition of the end effector 152100, the number of uses/number of remaining uses of the end effector 152100 and/or the staple cartridge 152106, and/or any other suitable instrument condition. The second sensor 152108b may comprise any suitable sensor for detecting one or more instrument conditions, such as, for example, a magnetic sensor, such as a Hall effect sensor, a strain gauge, a pressure sensor, an inductive sensor, such as an eddy current sensor, a resistive sensor, a capacitive sensor, an optical sensor, and/or any other suitable sensor.
The end effector 152100 may be used in conjunction with any of the processes shown in
In some embodiments, the end effector 152150 comprises a plurality of secondary sensors 152160a, 152160b. The secondary sensors 152160a, 152160b are configured to detect one or more parameters of the end effector 152150. For example, in some embodiments, the secondary sensors 152160a, 152160b are configured to measure an amplitude of strain exerted on the anvil 152152 during a clamping procedure. In various embodiments, the secondary sensors 152160a, 152160b may comprise a magnetic sensor, such as a Hall effect sensor, a strain gauge, a pressure sensor, an inductive sensor, such as an eddy current sensor, a resistive sensor, a capacitive sensor, an optical sensor, and/or any other suitable sensor. The secondary sensors 152160a, 152160b may be configured to measure one or more identical parameters at different locations of the anvil 152152, different parameters at identical locations on the anvil 152152, and/or different parameters at different locations on the anvil 152152.
In some embodiments, a plurality of secondary sensors 152160a, 152160b are coupled to a plurality of bridges 152192a, 152192b within the circuit 152190. The plurality of bridges 152192a, 152192b may provide filtering of the input from the plurality of secondary sensors 152160a, 152160b. After filtering the input signals, the plurality of bridges 152192a, 152192b provide the inputs from the plurality of secondary sensors 152160a, 152160b to the analog-to-digital convertor 152194. In some embodiments, a switch 152198 coupled to one or more level shifting resistors may be coupled to the analog-to-digital convertor 152194. The switch 152198 is configured to calibrate one or more of the input signals, such as, for example, an input from a Hall effect sensor. The switch 152198 may be engaged to provide one or more level shifting signals to adjust the input of one or more of the sensors, such as, for example, to calibrate the input of a Hall effect sensor. In some embodiments, the adjustment is not necessary, and the switch 152198 is left in the open position to decouple the level shifting resistors. The switch 152198 is coupled to the analog-to-digital convertor 152194. The analog-to-digital convertor 152194 provides an output to one or more processors, such as, for example, the primary processor. The primary processor calculates one or more parameters of the end effector 152150 based on the input from the analog-to-digital convertor 152194. For example, in one embodiment, the primary processor calculates a thickness of tissue located between the anvil 152152 and the staple cartridge 152156 based on input from one or more sensors 152158, 152160a, 152160b.
In one embodiment, the plurality of sensors 152208a-152208d allows a robust tissue thickness sensing process to be implemented. By detecting various parameters along the length of the anvil 152202, the plurality of sensors 152208a-152208d allow a surgical instrument, such as, for example, the surgical instrument 150010, to calculate the tissue thickness in the jaws regardless of the bite, for example, a partial or full bite. In some embodiments, the plurality of sensors 152208a-152208d comprises a plurality of strain gauges. The plurality of strain gauges is configured to measure the strain at various points on the anvil 152202. The amplitude and/or the slope of the strain at each of the various points on the anvil 152202 can be used to determine the thickness of tissue in between the anvil 152202 and the staple cartridge 152206. The plurality of strain gauges may be configured to optimize maximum amplitude and/or slope differences based on clamping dynamics to determine thickness, tissue placement, and/or material properties of the tissue. Time based monitoring of the plurality of sensors 152208a-152208d during clamping allows a processor, such as, for example, the primary processor, to utilize algorithms and look-up tables to recognize tissue characteristics and clamping positions and dynamically adjust the end effector 152200 and/or tissue clamped between the anvil 152202 and the staple cartridge 152206.
A plurality of secondary sensors 152260a-152260d is coupled to the second jaw member 152254. The plurality of secondary sensors 152260a-152260d may be formed integrally with the second jaw member 152254 and/or the staple cartridge 152256. For example, in one embodiment, the plurality of secondary sensors 152260a-152260d is disposed on an outer row of the staple cartridge 152256 (see
In some embodiments, the plurality of secondary sensors 152260a-152260d comprises dual purpose sensors and tissue stabilizing elements. The plurality of secondary sensors 152260a-152260d comprise electrodes and/or sensing geometries configured to create a stabilized tissue condition when the plurality of secondary sensors 152260a-152260d are engaged with a tissue section 152264, such as, for example, during a clamping operation. In some embodiments, one or more of the plurality of secondary sensors 152260a-152260d may be replaced with non-sensing tissue stabilizing elements. The secondary sensors 152260a-152260d create a stabilized tissue condition by controlling tissue flow, staple formation, and/or other tissue conditions during a clamping, stapling, and/or other treatment process.
In some embodiments, the plurality of sensors 152308a, 152308b comprise redundant sensors. The redundant sensors are configured to detect the same properties of the end effector 152300 and/or a tissue section located between the anvil 152302 and the staple cartridge 152306. The redundant sensors may comprise, for example, Hall effect sensors configured to detect the gap 152310 between the anvil 152302 and the staple cartridge 152306. The redundant sensors provide signals representative of one or more parameters allowing a processor, such as, for example, the primary processor, to evaluate the multiple inputs and determine the most reliable input. In some embodiments, the redundant sensors are used to reduce noise, false signals, and/or drift. Each of the redundant sensors may be measured in real-time during clamping, allowing time-based information to be analyzed and algorithms and/or look-up tables to recognize tissue characteristics and clamping positioning dynamically. The input of one or more of the redundant sensors may be adjusted and/or selected to identify the true tissue thickness and bite of a tissue section located between the anvil 152302 and the staple cartridge 152306.
In one embodiment, the sensor 152358 comprises a magnetic sensor configured to detect a magnetic field generated by an electromagnetic source 152360 coupled to the second jaw member 152354 and/or the staple cartridge 152356. The electromagnetic source 152360 generates a magnetic field detected by the sensor 152358. The strength of the detected magnetic field may correspond to, for example, the thickness and/or fullness of a bite of tissue located between the anvil 152352 and the staple cartridge 152356. In some embodiments, the electromagnetic source 152360 generates a signal at a known frequency, such as, for example, 1 MHz. In other embodiments, the signal generated by the electromagnetic source 152360 may be adjustable based on, for example, the type of staple cartridge 152356 installed in the second jaw member 152354, one or more additional sensor, an algorithm, and/or one or more parameters.
In one embodiment, a signal processor 152362 is coupled to the end effector 152350, such as, for example, the anvil 152352. The signal processor 152362 is configured to process the signal generated by the sensor 152358 to eliminate false signals and to boost the input from the sensor 152358. In some embodiments, the signal processor 152362 may be located separately from the end effector 152350, such as, for example, in the handle 150014 of the surgical instrument 150010. In some embodiments, the signal processor 152362 is formed integrally with and/or comprises an algorithm executed by a general processor, such as, for example, the primary processor. The signal processor 152362 is configured to process the signal from the sensor 152358 at a frequency substantially equal to the frequency of the signal generated by the electromagnetic source 152360. For example, in one embodiment, the electromagnetic source 152360 generates a signal at a frequency of 1 MHz. The signal is detected by the sensor 152358. The sensor 152358 generates a signal indicative of the detected magnetic field which is provided to the signal processor 152362. The signal is processed by the signal processor 152362 at a frequency of 1 MHz to eliminate false signals. The processed signal is provided to a processor, such as, for example, the primary processor. The primary processor correlates the received signal to one or more parameters of the end effector 152350, such as, for example, the gap 152364 between the anvil 152352 and the staple cartridge 152356.
The sensor 152408 can be operable to detect a property of the staple cartridge 152406 and thereby identify the staple cartridge 152406 type.
Alternately or additionally, the optical emitter and detector 152410, or another suitable sensor 152408, can interrogate and identify some other symbol or marking on the staple cartridge 152406. The symbol or marking can be any one of a barcode, a shape or character, a color-coded emblem, or any other suitable marking. The information read by the sensor 152408 can be communicated to a microcontroller in the surgical device 150010, such as for instance a microcontroller (e.g., microcontroller 461 (
Accordingly, as used herein, the term displacement member is used generically to refer to any movable member of a surgical instrument or system as described herein, such as a drive member, firing member, firing bar, cutting instrument, knife, and/or I-beam, or any element that can be displaced. Accordingly, the absolute positioning system 153100 can, in effect, track the displacement of the cutting instrument I-beam 153514 (
An electric motor 153120 can include a rotatable shaft 153116 that operably interfaces with a gear assembly 153114 that is mounted in meshing engagement with a set, or rack, of drive teeth on the displacement member 153111. A sensor element 153126 may be operably coupled to the gear assembly 153114 such that a single revolution of the sensor element 153126 corresponds to some linear longitudinal translation of the displacement member 153111. An arrangement of gearing and sensors 153118 can be connected to the linear actuator via a rack and pinion arrangement or a rotary actuator via a spur gear or other connection. A power source 153129 supplies power to the absolute positioning system 153100 and an output indicator 153128 may display the output of the absolute positioning system 153100.
A single revolution of the sensor element 153126 associated with the position sensor 153112 is equivalent to a longitudinal displacement d1 of the of the displacement member 153111, where d1 is the longitudinal distance that the displacement member 153111 moves from point “a” to point “b” after a single revolution of the sensor element 153126 coupled to the displacement member 153111. The sensor arrangement 153102 may be connected via a gear reduction that results in the position sensor 153112 completing one or more revolutions for the full stroke of the displacement member 153111. The position sensor 153112 may complete multiple revolutions for the full stroke of the displacement member 153111.
A series of switches 153122a-153122n, where n is an integer greater than one, may be employed alone or in combination with gear reduction to provide a unique position signal for more than one revolution of the position sensor 153112. The state of the switches 153122a-153122n are fed back to a controller 153110 that applies logic to determine a unique position signal corresponding to the longitudinal displacement d1+d2+ . . . dn of the displacement member 153111. The output 153124 of the position sensor 153112 is provided to the controller 153110. The position sensor 153112 of the sensor arrangement 153102 may comprise a magnetic sensor, an analog rotary sensor like a potentiometer, an array of analog Hall-effect elements, which output a unique combination of position signals or values. The controller 153110 may be contained within a master controller or may be contained within a tool mounting portion housing of a surgical instrument or system in accordance with the present disclosure.
The absolute positioning system 153100 provides an absolute position of the displacement member 153111 upon power up of the surgical instrument or system without retracting or advancing the displacement member 153111 to a reset (zero or home) position as may be required with conventional rotary encoders that merely count the number of steps forwards or backwards that the motor 153120 has taken to infer the position of a device actuator, drive bar, knife, and the like.
The controller 153110 may be programmed to perform various functions such as precise control over the speed and position of the knife and articulation systems. In one aspect, the controller 153110 includes a processor 153108 and a memory 153106. The electric motor 153120 may be a brushed DC motor with a gearbox and mechanical links to an articulation or knife system. In one aspect, a motor driver 153110 may be an A3941 available from Allegro Microsystems, Inc. Other motor drivers may be readily substituted for use in the absolute positioning system 153100.
The controller 153110 may be programmed to provide precise control over the speed and position of the displacement member 153111 and articulation systems. The controller 153110 may be configured to compute a response in the software of the controller 153110. The computed response is compared to a measured response of the actual system to obtain an “observed” response, which is used for actual feedback decisions. The observed response is a favorable, tuned, value that balances the smooth, continuous nature of the simulated response with the measured response, which can detect outside influences on the system.
The absolute positioning system 153100 may comprise and/or be programmed to implement a feedback controller, such as a PID, state feedback, and adaptive controller. A power source 153129 converts the signal from the feedback controller into a physical input to the system, in this case voltage. Other examples include pulse width modulation (PWM) of the voltage, current, and force. Other sensor(s) 153118 may be provided to measure physical parameters of the physical system in addition to position measured by the position sensor 153112. In a digital signal processing system, absolute positioning system 153100 is coupled to a digital data acquisition system where the output of the absolute positioning system 153100 will have finite resolution and sampling frequency. The absolute positioning system 153100 may comprise a compare and combine circuit to combine a computed response with a measured response using algorithms such as weighted average and theoretical control loop that drives the computed response towards the measured response. The computed response of the physical system takes into account properties like mass, inertial, viscous friction, inductance resistance, etc., to predict what the states and outputs of the physical system will be by knowing the input.
The motor driver 153110 may be an A3941 available from Allegro Microsystems, Inc. The A3941 driver 153110 is a full-bridge controller for use with external N-channel power metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) specifically designed for inductive loads, such as brush DC motors. The driver 153110 comprises a unique charge pump regulator provides full (>10 V) gate drive for battery voltages down to 7 V and allows the A3941 to operate with a reduced gate drive, down to 5.5 V. A bootstrap capacitor may be employed to provide the above-battery supply voltage required for N-channel MOSFETs. An internal charge pump for the high-side drive allows DC (100% duty cycle) operation. The full bridge can be driven in fast or slow decay modes using diode or synchronous rectification. In the slow decay mode, current recirculation can be through the high-side or the lowside FETs. The power FETs are protected from shoot-through by resistor adjustable dead time. Integrated diagnostics provide indication of undervoltage, overtemperature, and power bridge faults, and can be configured to protect the power MOSFETs under most short circuit conditions. Other motor drivers may be readily substituted for use in the absolute positioning system 153100.
The Hall-effect elements 153228A, 153228B, 153228C, 153228D are located directly above the rotating magnet. The Hall-effect is a well-known effect and for expediency will not be described in detail herein, however, generally, the Hall-effect produces a voltage difference (the Hall voltage) across an electrical conductor transverse to an electric current in the conductor and a magnetic field perpendicular to the current. A Hall coefficient is defined as the ratio of the induced electric field to the product of the current density and the applied magnetic field. It is a characteristic of the material from which the conductor is made, since its value depends on the type, number, and properties of the charge carriers that constitute the current. In the AS5055 position sensor 153200, the Hall-effect elements 153228A, 153228B, 153228C, 153228D are capable producing a voltage signal that is indicative of the absolute position of the magnet in terms of the angle over a single revolution of the magnet. This value of the angle, which is unique position signal, is calculated by the CORDIC processor 153236 is stored onboard the AS5055 position sensor 153200 in a register or memory. The value of the angle that is indicative of the position of the magnet over one revolution is provided to the controller 153110 in a variety of techniques, e.g., upon power up or upon request by the controller 153110.
The AS5055 position sensor 153200 requires only a few external components to operate when connected to the controller 153110. Six wires are needed for a simple application using a single power supply: two wires for power and four wires 153240 for the SPI interface 153234 with the controller 153110. A seventh connection can be added in order to send an interrupt to the controller 153110 to inform that a new valid angle can be read. Upon power-up, the AS5055 position sensor 153200 performs a full power-up sequence including one angle measurement. The completion of this cycle is indicated as an INT output 153242, and the angle value is stored in an internal register. Once this output is set, the AS5055 position sensor 153200 suspends to sleep mode. The controller 153110 can respond to the INT request at the INT output 153242 by reading the angle value from the AS5055 position sensor 153200 over the SPI interface 153234. Once the angle value is read by the controller 153110, the INT output 153242 is cleared again. Sending a “read angle” command by the SPI interface 153234 by the controller 153110 to the position sensor 153200 also automatically powers up the chip and starts another angle measurement. As soon as the controller 153110 has completed reading of the angle value, the INT output 153242 is cleared and a new result is stored in the angle register. The completion of the angle measurement is again indicated by setting the INT output 153242 and a corresponding flag in the status register.
Due to the measurement principle of the AS5055 position sensor 153200, only a single angle measurement is performed in very short time (˜600 μs) after each power-up sequence. As soon as the measurement of one angle is completed, the AS5055 position sensor 153200 suspends to power-down state. An on-chip filtering of the angle value by digital averaging is not implemented, as this would require more than one angle measurement and, consequently, a longer power-up time that is not desired in low-power applications. The angle jitter can be reduced by averaging of several angle samples in the controller 153110. For example, an averaging of four samples reduces the jitter by 6 dB (50%).
An example I-beam 153514 firing stroke is illustrated by a chart 153529 aligned with the end effector 153502. Example tissue 153526 is also shown aligned with the end effector 153502. The firing member stroke may comprise a stroke begin position 153527 and a stroke end position 153528. During an I-beam 153514 firing stroke, the I-beam 153514 may be advanced distally from the stroke begin position 153527 to the stroke end position 153528. The I-beam 153514 is shown at one example location of a stroke begin position 153527. The I-beam 153514 firing member stroke chart 153529 illustrates five firing member stroke regions 153517, 153519, 153521, 153523, 153525. In a first firing stroke region 153517, the I-beam 153514 may begin to advance distally. In the first firing stroke region 153517, the I-beam 153514 may contact the wedge sled 153513 and begin to move it distally. While in the first region, however, the cutting edge 153509 may not contact tissue and the wedge sled 153513 may not contact a staple driver 153511. After static friction is overcome, the force to drive the I-beam 153514 in the first region 153517 may be substantially constant.
In the second firing member stroke region 153519, the cutting edge 153509 may begin to contact and cut tissue 153526. Also, the wedge sled 153513 may begin to contact staple drivers 153511 to drive staples 153505. Force to drive the I-beam 153514 may begin to ramp up. As shown, tissue encountered initially may be compressed and/or thinner because of the way that the anvil 153516 pivots relative to the staple cartridge 153518. In the third firing member stroke region 153521, the cutting edge 153509 may continuously contact and cut tissue 153526 and the wedge sled 153513 may repeatedly contact staple drivers 153511. Force to drive the I-beam 153514 may plateau in the third region 153521. By the fourth firing stroke region 153523, force to drive the I-beam 153514 may begin to decline. For example, tissue in the portion of the end effector 153502 corresponding to the fourth firing region 153523 may be less compressed than tissue closer to the pivot point of the anvil 153516, requiring less force to cut. Also, the cutting edge 153509 and wedge sled 153513 may reach the end of the tissue 153526 while in the fourth region 153523. When the I-beam 153514 reaches the fifth region 153525, the tissue 153526 may be completely severed. The wedge sled 153513 may contact one or more staple drivers 153511 at or near the end of the tissue. Force to advance the !-beam 153514 through the fifth region 153525 may be reduced and, in some examples, may be similar to the force to drive the I-beam 153514 in the first region 153517. At the conclusion of the firing member stroke, the I-beam 153514 may reach the stroke end position 153528. The positioning of firing member stroke regions 153517, 153519, 153521, 153523, 153525 in
As discussed above and with reference now to
Force acting on the I-beam 153514 may be determined using various techniques. The I-beam 153514 force may be determined by measuring the motor 153120 current, where the motor 153120 current is based on the load experienced by the I-beam 153514 as it advances distally. The I-beam 153514 force may be determined by positioning a strain gauge on the drive member, the firing member, I-beam 153514, the firing bar, and/or on a proximal end of the cutting edge 153509. The I-beam 153514 force may be determined by monitoring the actual position of the I-beam 153514 moving at an expected velocity based on the current set velocity of the motor 153120 after a predetermined elapsed period T1 and comparing the actual position of the I-beam 153514 relative to the expected position of the I-beam 153514 based on the current set velocity of the motor 153120 at the end of the period T1. Thus, if the actual position of the I-beam 153514 is less than the expected position of the I-beam 153514, the force on the I-beam 153514 is greater than a nominal force. Conversely, if the actual position of the I-beam 153514 is greater than the expected position of the I-beam 153514, the force on the I-beam 153514 is less than the nominal force. The difference between the actual and expected positions of the I-beam 153514 is proportional to the deviation of the force on the I-beam 153514 from the nominal force.
Prior to turning to a description of closed loop control techniques of the closure tube and firing member, the description turns briefly to
The first and second closure force plots 153606, 153608 indicate that the closure force in the end effector 153502 increases during an initial clamping time period ending at a time (t1). The closure force reaches a maximum force (F1, F3) at the time (t1). The initial clamping time period can be about one second, for example. A waiting period can be applied prior to initiating a firing stroke. The waiting period allows fluid egress from tissue compressed by the end effector 153502, which reduces the thickness of the compressed tissue yielding a smaller gap between the anvil 153516 and the staple cartridge 153518 and a reduced closure force at the end of the waiting period. With reference to the first closure force plot 153606, there is a nominal drop in closure force 153612 from F1 to F2 during the waiting period between t1 to t4. Similarly, with reference to the second closure force plot 153608, the closure force 153618 drops nominally from F3 to F4 during the waiting period between t1 to t4. In some examples, a waiting period (t1 to t4) selected from a range of about 10 seconds to about 20 seconds is typically employed. In the example first and second closure force plots 153606, 153608, a period of time of about 15 seconds is employed. The waiting period is followed by the firing stroke, which typically lasts a period of time selected from a range of about 3 seconds, for example, to about 5 seconds, for example. The closure force decreases as the I-beam 153514 is advanced relative to the end effector through the firing stroke. As indicated by the closure force 153614, 153620 of the first and second closure force plots 153606, 153608, respectively, the closure force 153614, 153620 exerted on the closure tube drops precipitously from about time t4 to about time t5. Time t4 represents the moment where the I-beam 153514 couples into the anvil 153516 and begins to take over the closing load. Accordingly, the closure force decreases as the firing force increases as shown by the first and second firing force plots 153622, 153624.
As previously described, the closure tube force drops precipitously from time to t4 about time t5, which represents the moment the I-beam 153514 couples into the anvil 153516 and begins to take load and the closure force decreases as the firing force increases as shown by the first and second firing force plots 153622, 153624. The I-beam 153514 is advanced from the stroke begin position at time t4 to the stroke end positions between t8 and t9 for the firing force plot 153624 for thin tissue and at t13 for the firing force plot 153622 for thick tissue. As the I-beam 153514 is advanced distally during the firing stroke, the closure assembly surrenders control of the staple cartridge 153518 and the anvil 153516 to the firing assembly, which causes the firing force to increase and the closure force to decrease.
In the thick tissue firing force plot 153622, during the firing period (FIRE) the plot 153622 is divided into three distinct segments. A first segment 153628 indicates the firing force as it increases from 0 at to t4 a peak force F1′ just prior to t5. The first segment 153628 is the firing force during the initial phase of the firing stroke where the I-beam 153514 advances distally from the top of the closure ramp until the I-beam 153514 contacts tissue. A second segment 153630 indicates the firing force during a second phase of the firing stroke where the I-beam 153514 is advancing distally deploying staples and cutting the tissue. During the second phase of the firing stroke the firing force drops from F1′ to F2′ at about t12. A third segment 153632 indicates the firing force during the third and final phase of the firing stroke where the I-beam 153514 leaves the tissue and advances to the end of stroke in a tissue free zone. During the third phase of the firing stroke the firing force drops to from F2′ to zero (0) at about t13 where the I-beam 153514 reaches the end of stroke. In summary, during the firing stroke, the firing force rises dramatically as the I-beam 153514 enters a tissue zone, decrease steadily in the tissue zone during the stapling and cutting operation, and drops dramatically as the I-beam 153514 exits the tissue zone and enters a tissue free zone at the end of stroke.
The thin tissue firing force plot 153624 follows a similar pattern as the thick tissue firing force plot 153622. Thus, during the first phase of the firing stroke the firing force 153634 increases dramatically from 0 to F3′ at about t5. During the second phase of the firing stroke, the firing force 153636 drops steadily from F3′ to F4′ at about t8. During the final phase of the firing stroke the firing force 153638 drops dramatically from F′4 to 0 between t8 and t9.
To overcome the precipitous drop in closure force from time to t4 about time t5, which represents the moment the I-beam 153514 couples into the anvil 153516 and begins to take load and the closure force decreases as the firing force increases, as shown by the first and second firing force plots 153622, 153624, the closure tube may be advanced distally while the firing member such as the !-beam 153514 is advancing distally. The closure tube is represented as a transmission element that applies a closure force to the anvil 153516. As described herein, a control circuit applies motor set points to the motor control which applies a motor control signal to the motor to drive the transmission element and advance the closure tube distally to apply a closing force to the anvil 153516. A torque sensor coupled to an output shaft of the motor can be used to measure the force applied to the closure tube. In other aspects, the closure force can be measured with a strain gauge, load cell, or other suitable force sensor.
In the context of controlling the displacement of the closure tube, the control system 153950 may be configured such that the primary set point SP1 is a desired closure force value and the primary controller 153952 is configured to receive the closure force from the torque sensor coupled to the output of the closure motor and determine a set point SP2 motor velocity for the closure motor. In other aspects, the closure force may be measured with strain gauges, load cells, or other suitable force sensors. The closure motor velocity set point SP2 is compared to the actual velocity of the closure tube, which is determined by the secondary controller 153955. The actual velocity of the closure tube may be measured by comparing the displacement of the closure tube with the position sensor and measuring elapsed time with the timer/counter. Other techniques, such as linear or rotary encoders may be employed to measure displacement of the closure tube. The output 153968 of the secondary process 153960 is the actual velocity of the closure tube. This closure tube velocity output 153968 is provided to the primary process 153958 which determines the force acting on the closure tube and is fed back to the adder 153962, which subtracts the measured closure force from the primary set point SP1. The primary set point SP1 may be an upper threshold or a lower threshold. Based on the output of the adder 153962, the primary controller 153952 controls the velocity and direction of the closure tube motor as described herein. The secondary controller 153955 controls the velocity of the closure motor based on the actual velocity of closure tube measured by the secondary process 153960 and the secondary set point SP2, which is based on a comparison of the actual firing force and the firing force upper and lower thresholds.
In accordance with the PID algorithm, the “P” element 153974 accounts for present values of the error. For example, if the error is large and positive, the control output will also be large and positive. In accordance with the present disclosure, the error term e(t) is the different between the desired closure force and the measured closure force of the closure tube. The “I” element 153976 accounts for past values of the error. For example, if the current output is not sufficiently strong, the integral of the error will accumulate over time, and the controller will respond by applying a stronger action. The “D” element 153978 accounts for possible future trends of the error, based on its current rate of change. For example, continuing the P example above, when the large positive control output succeeds in bringing the error closer to zero, it also puts the process on a path to large negative error in the near future. In this case, the derivative turns negative and the D module reduces the strength of the action to prevent this overshoot.
It will be appreciated that other variables and set points may be monitored and controlled in accordance with the feedback control systems 153950, 153970. For example, the adaptive closure member velocity control algorithm described herein may measure at least two of the following parameters: firing member stroke location, firing member load, displacement of cutting element, velocity of cutting element, closure tube stroke location, closure tube load, among others.
With reference now also to
In one aspect, the threshold closure force SP1 comprises an upper threshold and a lower threshold. The set point velocity SP2 is configured to advance the closure member distally when the actual closure force is less than the lower threshold and the set point velocity is configured to retract the closure member proximally when the actual closure force is greater than the lower threshold. In one aspect, the set point velocity is configured to hold the closure member in place when the actual closure force is between the upper and lower thresholds.
In one aspect, the control system further comprises a force sensor (e.g., any of sensors 472, 474, 476 (
In one aspect, the control system comprises a first motor configured to couple to the closure member and the control circuit is configured to advance the closure member during at least a portion of a firing stroke.
The functions or processes 153990 described herein may be executed by any of the processing circuits described herein. Aspects of the motorized surgical instrument may be practiced without the specific details disclosed herein. Some aspects have been shown as block diagrams rather than detail.
Parts of this disclosure may be presented in terms of instructions that operate on data stored in a computer memory. An algorithm refers to a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desired result, where a “step” refers to a manipulation of physical quantities which may take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. These signals may be referred to as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers. These and similar terms may be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities.
Generally, aspects described herein which can be implemented, individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof can be viewed as being composed of various types of “electrical circuitry.” Consequently, “electrical circuitry” includes electrical circuitry having at least one discrete electrical circuit, electrical circuitry having at least one integrated circuit, electrical circuitry having at least one application specific integrated circuit, electrical circuitry forming a general purpose computing device configured by a computer program (e.g., a general purpose computer or processor configured by a computer program which at least partially carries out processes and/or devices described herein, electrical circuitry forming a memory device (e.g., forms of random access memory), and/or electrical circuitry forming a communications device (e.g., a modem, communications switch, or optical-electrical equipment). These aspects may be implemented in analog or digital form, or combinations thereof.
The foregoing description has set forth aspects of devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts, and/or examples, which may contain one or more functions and/or operation. Each function and/or operation within such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples can be implemented, individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. In one aspect, several portions of the subject matter described herein may be implemented via Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), circuits, registers and/or software components, e.g., programs, subroutines, logic and/or combinations of hardware and software components. Logic gates, or other integrated formats. Some aspects disclosed herein, in whole or in part, can be equivalently implemented in integrated circuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or more computers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computer systems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors), as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designing the circuitry and/or writing the code for the software and or firmware would be well within the skill of one of skill in the art in light of this disclosure.
The mechanisms of the disclosed subject matter are capable of being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that an illustrative aspect of the subject matter described herein applies regardless of the particular type of signal bearing medium used to actually carry out the distribution. Examples of a signal bearing medium include the following: a recordable type medium such as a floppy disk, a hard disk drive, a Compact Disc (CD), a Digital Video Disk (DVD), a digital tape, a computer memory, etc.; and a transmission type medium such as a digital and/or an analog communication medium (e.g., a fiber optic cable, a waveguide, a wired communications link, a wireless communication link (e.g., transmitter, receiver, transmission logic, reception logic, etc.).
The foregoing description of these aspects has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or limiting to the precise form disclosed. Modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. These aspects were chosen and described in order to illustrate principles and practical application to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the aspects and with modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the claims submitted herewith define the overall scope.
Situational awareness is the ability of some aspects of a surgical system to determine or infer information related to a surgical procedure from data received from databases and/or instruments. The information can include the type of procedure being undertaken, the type of tissue being operated on, or the body cavity that is the subject of the procedure. With the contextual information related to the surgical procedure, the surgical system can, for example, improve the manner in which it controls the modular devices (e.g. a robotic arm and/or robotic surgical tool) that are connected to it and provide contextualized information or suggestions to the surgeon during the course of the surgical procedure.
Referring now to
The situationally aware surgical hub 106, 206 receives data from the data sources throughout the course of the surgical procedure, including data generated each time medical personnel utilize a modular device that is paired with the surgical hub 106, 206. The surgical hub 106, 206 can receive this data from the paired modular devices and other data sources and continually derive inferences (i.e., contextual information) about the ongoing procedure as new data is received, such as which step of the procedure is being performed at any given time. The situational awareness system of the surgical hub 106, 206 is able to, for example, record data pertaining to the procedure for generating reports, verify the steps being taken by the medical personnel, provide data or prompts (e.g., via a display screen) that may be pertinent for the particular procedural step, adjust modular devices based on the context (e.g., activate monitors, adjust the field of view (FOV) of the medical imaging device, or change the energy level of an ultrasonic surgical instrument or RF electrosurgical instrument), and take any other such action described above.
As the first step 5202 in this illustrative procedure, the hospital staff members retrieve the patient's EMR from the hospital's EMR database. Based on select patient data in the EMR, the surgical hub 106, 206 determines that the procedure to be performed is a thoracic procedure.
Second step 5204, the staff members scan the incoming medical supplies for the procedure. The surgical hub 106, 206 cross-references the scanned supplies with a list of supplies that are utilized in various types of procedures and confirms that the mix of supplies corresponds to a thoracic procedure. Further, the surgical hub 106, 206 is also able to determine that the procedure is not a wedge procedure (because the incoming supplies either lack certain supplies that are necessary for a thoracic wedge procedure or do not otherwise correspond to a thoracic wedge procedure).
Third step 5206, the medical personnel scan the patient band via a scanner that is communicably connected to the surgical hub 106, 206. The surgical hub 106, 206 can then confirm the patient's identity based on the scanned data.
Fourth step 5208, the medical staff turns on the auxiliary equipment. The auxiliary equipment being utilized can vary according to the type of surgical procedure and the techniques to be used by the surgeon, but in this illustrative case they include a smoke evacuator, insufflator, and medical imaging device. When activated, the auxiliary equipment that are modular devices can automatically pair with the surgical hub 106, 206 that is located within a particular vicinity of the modular devices as part of their initialization process. The surgical hub 106, 206 can then derive contextual information about the surgical procedure by detecting the types of modular devices that pair with it during this pre-operative or initialization phase. In this particular example, the surgical hub 106, 206 determines that the surgical procedure is a VATS procedure based on this particular combination of paired modular devices. Based on the combination of the data from the patient's EMR, the list of medical supplies to be used in the procedure, and the type of modular devices that connect to the hub, the surgical hub 106, 206 can generally infer the specific procedure that the surgical team will be performing. Once the surgical hub 106, 206 knows what specific procedure is being performed, the surgical hub 106, 206 can then retrieve the steps of that procedure from a memory or from the cloud and then cross-reference the data it subsequently receives from the connected data sources (e.g., modular devices and patient monitoring devices) to infer what step of the surgical procedure the surgical team is performing.
Fifth step 5210, the staff members attach the EKG electrodes and other patient monitoring devices to the patient. The EKG electrodes and other patient monitoring devices are able to pair with the surgical hub 106, 206. As the surgical hub 106, 206 begins receiving data from the patient monitoring devices, the surgical hub 106, 206 thus confirms that the patient is in the operating theater.
Sixth step 5212, the medical personnel induce anesthesia in the patient. The surgical hub 106, 206 can infer that the patient is under anesthesia based on data from the modular devices and/or patient monitoring devices, including EKG data, blood pressure data, ventilator data, or combinations thereof, for example. Upon completion of the sixth step 5212, the pre-operative portion of the lung segmentectomy procedure is completed and the operative portion begins.
Seventh step 5214, the patient's lung that is being operated on is collapsed (while ventilation is switched to the contralateral lung). The surgical hub 106, 206 can infer from the ventilator data that the patient's lung has been collapsed, for example. The surgical hub 106, 206 can infer that the operative portion of the procedure has commenced as it can compare the detection of the patient's lung collapsing to the expected steps of the procedure (which can be accessed or retrieved previously) and thereby determine that collapsing the lung is the first operative step in this particular procedure.
Eighth step 5216, the medical imaging device (e.g., a scope) is inserted and video from the medical imaging device is initiated. The surgical hub 106, 206 receives the medical imaging device data (i.e., video or image data) through its connection to the medical imaging device. Upon receipt of the medical imaging device data, the surgical hub 106, 206 can determine that the laparoscopic portion of the surgical procedure has commenced. Further, the surgical hub 106, 206 can determine that the particular procedure being performed is a segmentectomy, as opposed to a lobectomy (note that a wedge procedure has already been discounted by the surgical hub 106, 206 based on data received at the second step 5204 of the procedure). The data from the medical imaging device 124 (
Ninth step 5218, the surgical team begins the dissection step of the procedure. The surgical hub 106, 206 can infer that the surgeon is in the process of dissecting to mobilize the patient's lung because it receives data from the RF or ultrasonic generator indicating that an energy instrument is being fired. The surgical hub 106, 206 can cross-reference the received data with the retrieved steps of the surgical procedure to determine that an energy instrument being fired at this point in the process (i.e., after the completion of the previously discussed steps of the procedure) corresponds to the dissection step. In certain instances, the energy instrument can be an energy tool mounted to a robotic arm of a robotic surgical system.
Tenth step 5220, the surgical team proceeds to the ligation step of the procedure. The surgical hub 106, 206 can infer that the surgeon is ligating arteries and veins because it receives data from the surgical stapling and cutting instrument indicating that the instrument is being fired. Similarly to the prior step, the surgical hub 106, 206 can derive this inference by cross-referencing the receipt of data from the surgical stapling and cutting instrument with the retrieved steps in the process. In certain instances, the surgical instrument can be a surgical tool mounted to a robotic arm of a robotic surgical system.
Eleventh step 5222, the segmentectomy portion of the procedure is performed. The surgical hub 106, 206 can infer that the surgeon is transecting the parenchyma based on data from the surgical stapling and cutting instrument, including data from its cartridge. The cartridge data can correspond to the size or type of staple being fired by the instrument, for example. As different types of staples are utilized for different types of tissues, the cartridge data can thus indicate the type of tissue being stapled and/or transected. In this case, the type of staple being fired is utilized for parenchyma (or other similar tissue types), which allows the surgical hub 106, 206 to infer that the segmentectomy portion of the procedure is being performed.
Twelfth step 5224, the node dissection step is then performed. The surgical hub 106, 206 can infer that the surgical team is dissecting the node and performing a leak test based on data received from the generator indicating that an RF or ultrasonic instrument is being fired. For this particular procedure, an RF or ultrasonic instrument being utilized after parenchyma was transected corresponds to the node dissection step, which allows the surgical hub 106, 206 to make this inference. It should be noted that surgeons regularly switch back and forth between surgical stapling/cutting instruments and surgical energy (i.e., RF or ultrasonic) instruments depending upon the particular step in the procedure because different instruments are better adapted for particular tasks. Therefore, the particular sequence in which the stapling/cutting instruments and surgical energy instruments are used can indicate what step of the procedure the surgeon is performing. Moreover, in certain instances, robotic tools can be utilized for one or more steps in a surgical procedure and/or handheld surgical instruments can be utilized for one or more steps in the surgical procedure. The surgeon(s) can alternate between robotic tools and handheld surgical instruments and/or can use the devices concurrently, for example. Upon completion of the twelfth step 5224, the incisions are closed up and the post-operative portion of the procedure begins.
Thirteenth step 5226, the patient's anesthesia is reversed. The surgical hub 106, 206 can infer that the patient is emerging from the anesthesia based on the ventilator data (i.e., the patient's breathing rate begins increasing), for example.
Lastly, the fourteenth step 5228 is that the medical personnel remove the various patient monitoring devices from the patient. The surgical hub 106, 206 can thus infer that the patient is being transferred to a recovery room when the hub loses EKG, BP, and other data from the patient monitoring devices. As can be seen from the description of this illustrative procedure, the surgical hub 106, 206 can determine or infer when each step of a given surgical procedure is taking place according to data received from the various data sources that are communicably coupled to the surgical hub 106, 206.
Situational awareness is further described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/611,341, titled INTERACTIVE SURGICAL PLATFORM, filed Dec. 28, 2017, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. In certain instances, operation of a robotic surgical system, including the various robotic surgical systems disclosed herein, for example, can be controlled by the hub 106, 206 based on its situational awareness and/or feedback from the components thereof and/or based on information from the cloud 104.
Typically, in a surgical stapling procedure, a user places the jaws of the end effector around tissue to clamp and staple the tissue. In some instances, the majority of the tissue clamped between the jaws of the surgical stapling instrument can be concentrated in a portion of the gap between the jaws while the remainder of the gap remains unoccupied or slightly occupied. Irregularities in distribution of tissue positioned between the jaws of a surgical stapling instrument can reduce stapling outcome consistency. For example, the irregular tissue distribution can lead to excessive tissue compression in parts of the clamped tissue, and insufficient tissue compression in other parts of the clamped tissue, which may have a negative impact on the tissue being operated on. For example, excessive compression of tissue may result in tissue necrosis and, in certain procedures, staple line failure. Insufficient tissue compression also negatively impacts staple deployment and formation, and may cause the stapled tissue to leak or heal improperly.
Aspects of the present disclosure present a surgical stapling instrument that includes an end effector configured to staple tissue clamped between a first jaw and a second jaw of the end effector. The surgical stapling instrument is configured to sense and indicate irregularities in tissue distribution with respect to a number of predetermined zones between the first jaw and the second jaw, within the end effector. The surgical stapling instrument is further configured to sense and indicate irregularities in the amount and location of the tissue among the predetermined zones.
In one aspect, the surgical stapling instrument is configured to provide feedback on the most appropriate location and positioning of tissue in situations where tissue irregularities are detected.
Absolute measurements of the tissue impedance at the predetermined zones may be significantly influenced by the environment in which the end effector is immersed. For example, an end effector immersed in a fluid such as blood, for example, will yield different tissue impedance measurements than an end effector not immersed in blood. Also, an end effector clamped around a previously stapled tissue will yield different tissue impedance measurements than an end effector clamped around unstapled tissue. The present disclosure addresses such discrepancies when assessing tissue distribution in different predetermined zones by evaluating the tissue impedance measurements at the different predetermined zones in comparison to one another.
In one aspect, irregularities in the tissue clamped between the jaws of the surgical stapling instrument yield different tissue compressions at the predetermined zones. Aspects of the present disclosure present a surgical stapling instrument including a tissue-distribution assessment circuit configured to sense and indicate irregularities in the tissue compression among the predetermined zones by measuring impedance between the jaws of the end effector at each of the predetermined zones.
In one aspect, the tissue-distribution assessment circuit of the surgical stapling instrument comprises one or more tissue contact circuits at each of the predetermined zones configured to measure tissue impedance to assess position and amount of the clamped tissue.
For brevity, one or more of the embodiments of the present disclosure are described in connection with a specific type of surgical instruments. This should not be construed, however, as limiting. The embodiments of the present disclosure are applicable to various types of surgical stapling instruments such as, for example, linear surgical stapling instruments, curved surgical stapling instruments, and/or circular stapling instruments. The embodiments of the present disclosure are also equally applicable to surgical instrument that applies therapeutic energy to tissue such as, for example, ultrasonic or radio frequency (RF) energy.
Referring to
Tissue is clamped between the anvil 25007 and the staple cartridge 25009 by moving the staple cartridge 25009 distally toward the anvil 25007. In certain aspects, the anvil 25007 is moved proximally toward the staple cartridge 25009 to clamp the tissue therebetween. In other aspects, the anvil and the staple cartridge are moved relative to one another to clamp the tissue therebetween. As illustrated in
Referring again to
In the embodiment of
A suitable number, size, and location of the zones may be selected depending on the type of surgical instrument. For example, a linear surgical stapling instrument may include an inner or proximal zone, which is closest to the shaft, an outer or distal zone, which is farthest from the shaft, and one or more intermediate zones between the inner zone and the outer zone.
The three zones of the embodiment of
Each of the three zones of the embodiment of
Any of the contact circuits disclosed herein may include, and are not limited to, electrical contacts placed on an inner surface of a jaw which, when in contact with tissue, close a sensing circuit that is otherwise open.
The contact circuits may also include sensitive force transducers that determine the amount of force being applied to the sensor, which may be assumed to be the same amount of force being applied to the tissue “T”. Such force being applied to the tissue “T” may then be translated into an amount of tissue compression. The force sensors measure the amount of compression a tissue “T” is under, and provide a surgeon with information about the force applied to the tissue “T”.
As described above, excessive tissue compression may have a negative impact on the tissue “T” being operated on. For example, excessive compression of tissue “T” may result in tissue necrosis and, in certain procedures, staple line failure. Information regarding the pressure being applied to tissue “T” enables a surgeon to better determine that excessive pressure is not being applied to tissue “T”.
The force transducers of the contact circuits may include, and are not limited to, piezoelectric elements, piezoresistive elements, metal film or semiconductor strain gauges, inductive pressure sensors, capacitive pressure sensors, and potentiometric pressure transducers that use bourbon tubes, capsules or bellows to drive a wiper arm on a resistive element.
In various aspects, the predetermined zones within an end effector 25002 may comprise one or more segmented flexible circuit configured to fixedly attach to at least one jaw member of the end effector 25002. Examples of suitable segmented flexible circuits are described in connection with
As described above, establishing contact between the tissue “T” and the tissue contacting surfaces of the anvil 25007 and the staple cartridge 25009 at a predetermined zone closes a sensing circuit at the predetermined zone. The closure of the sensing circuit causes a current to pass through the tissue “T” at the predetermined zone, as illustrated in
wherein Ztissue is tissue impedance, V is voltage, I is current, and Zsense circuit is impedance of the sense circuit.
As illustrated in
The process 25030 includes receiving 25032 senor signals from sensor circuits of a sensing circuit assembly 25471 corresponding to predetermined zones (e.g. zone 1, Zone 2, and Zone 3) within the end effector 25002, determining 25034 tissue impedance Ztissue of tissue portions at such zones based on the received sensor signals.
The process 25030 further includes conditional steps 25036, 25038. If it is determined that the average of the tissue impedances of an inner zone (e.g. Zone 1) and an outer zone (e.g. Zone 3) is greater than the tissue impedance of the intermediate zone (e.g. Zone 2), then tissue distribution is considered to be inadequate, instructions are provided for releasing 25040 the grasped tissue and repositioning the end effector 25002, as illustrated by the example in
If, however, the average of the tissue impedances of an outer zone (e.g. Zone 1) and an inner zone (e.g. Zone 3) is less than or equal to the tissue impedance of an intermediate zone (e.g. Zone 2), and tissue impedance of the inner zone is less than or equal to the tissue impedance of the outer zone, then tissue distribution is considered to be adequate, and the end effector closure is continued 25042 while maintaining a predetermined Force-To-Close (FTC) threshold rate, as illustrated by the example of
If, however, the average of the tissue impedances of an outer zone (e.g. Zone 1) and an inner zone (e.g. Zone 3) is less than or equal to the tissue impedance of an intermediate zone (e.g. Zone 2), and tissue impedance of the inner zone is greater than the tissue impedance of the outer zone, then tissue distribution is considered to be adequate, but the FTC threshold rate is reduced 25044 to a slower rate, as illustrated by the example of
In various examples, the sensing circuit assembly 25471 includes an “n” number of continuity sensors, wherein “n” is an integer greater than two. The continuity sensors define predetermined zones within an end effector, as described above.
In various examples, sensing circuits S1-Sn can be configured to provide sensor signals indicative of tissue compression using impedance measurements. Continuity sensors S1-Sn can be used to inform whether sufficient tissue extends within an end effector 25002. In addition, FTC sensors can be used in assessing tissue creep rates in order to determine tissue distribution within an end effector 25002.
In various aspects, the sensing circuits S1-Sn can be configured to measure tissue impedance by driving a sub-therapeutic RF current through the tissue grasped by an end effector 25002. One or more electrodes can be positioned on either or both jaws of the end effector 25002. The tissue compression/impedance of the grasped tissue can be measured over time.
In various aspects, various sensors such as a magnetic field sensor, a strain gauge, a pressure sensor, a force sensor, an inductive sensor such as, for example, an eddy current sensor, a resistive sensor, a capacitive sensor, an optical sensor, and/or any other suitable sensor, may be adapted and configured to measure tissue compression/impedance at predetermined zones within an end effector.
In various aspects, the rate of closure system advancement is changed by the microcontroller 461 if more tissue is sensed in an inner zone than an outer zone of an end effector 25002. The closure rate is slowed down to improve tissue distribution by allowing time for the tissue in the inner zone to creep outward within the end effector 25002.
In various aspects, monitoring the change in impedance as closure gap changes may be used to inform tissue properties and positioning as well.
A firing of the end effector 25002, as illustrated in
The firing of
A firing of the end effector 25002, as illustrated in
In response, as outlined in the process 25030, the processor 462 instructs, through display 473, the operator of the end effector 25007 of the surgical instrument to open the jaws 25006, 25008 in order to readjust the tissue “T2” therein. Thus, the closure velocity drops 25434 until it reaches a negative closure velocity, indicating that the jaws 25006, 25008 are being opened in order to, for example, easily permit the tissue “T2” to be readjusted within the jaws 25006, 25008. The closure velocity then returns 25436 back to zero, the jaws 25006, 25008 stopped. Correspondingly, the FTC decreases 25430 to zero as the jaws 25006, 25008 are released from the tissue “T2”.
A firing of the end effector 25002, as illustrated in
During the laparoscopic-assisted rectal surgery, the colon is transected and sealed by the staple line 6003 having a length “l.” The double-stapling technique uses the circular stapler 6002 to create an end-to-end anastomosis and is currently used widely in laparoscopic-assisted rectal surgery. For a successful formation of an anastomosis using a circular stapler 6002, the anvil trocar 6010 of the circular stapler 6002 should be aligned with the center “l/2” of the staple line 6003 transection before puncturing through the center “l/2” of the staple line 6003 and/or fully clamping on the tissue before firing the circular stapler 6002 to cut out the staple overlap portion 6012 and forming the anastomosis. Misalignment of the anvil trocar 6010 to the center of the staple line 6003 transection may result in a high rate of anastomotic failures. This technique may be applied to ultrasonic instruments, electrosurgical instruments, combination ultrasonic/electrosurgical instruments, and/or combination surgical stapler/electrosurgical instruments. Several techniques are now described for aligning the anvil trocar 6010 of the circular stapler 6002 to the center “l/2” of the staple line 6003.
In one aspect, as described in
As shown in In
As shown in
As shown in
As discussed above, the sensor 6022 is configured to detect the position of the anvil trocar 6010 relative to the staple overlap portion 6012. Accordingly, the location of the crosshair 6036 (X) presented on the surgical hub display 215 is determined by the surgical stapler sensor 6022. In another aspect, the sensor 6022 may be located on the laparoscope 6014, where the sensor 6022 is configured to detect the tip of the anvil trocar 6010. In other aspects, the sensor 6022 may be located either on the circular stapler 6022 or the laparoscope 6014, or both, to determine the location of the anvil trocar 6010 relative to the staple overlap portion 6012 and provide the information to the surgical hub display 215 via the surgical hub 206.
In another aspect, the sensor 6022 may be configured to detect the beginning and end of a linear staple line in a colorectal transection and to provide the position of the current location of the anvil trocar 6010 of the circular stapler 6002. In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a surgical hub display 215 to present the circular stapler 6002 centered on the linear staple line, which would create even dog ears, and to provide the current position of the anvil trocar 6010 to allow the surgeon to center or align the anvil trocar 6010 as desired before puncturing and/or fully clamping on tissue prior to firing the circular stapler 6002.
In another aspect, as described in
As shown in
In one aspect, the present disclosure provides an apparatus and method for displaying an image of an linear staple line 6052 using a linear transection technique and an alignment ring or bullseye positioned as if the anvil trocar 6010 of the circular stapler 6022 were centered appropriately along the linear staple line 6052. The apparatus displays a greyed out alignment ring overlaid over the current position of the anvil trocar 6010 relative to the center 6050 of the linear staple line 6052. The image may include indication marks to assist the alignment process by indication which direction to move. the anvil trocar 6010. The target alignment ring 6032 may be shown in bold, change color or may be highlighted when it is located within a predetermined distance of center within acceptable limits.
With reference now to
With reference now to
With reference now to
Referring now to
Aspects of the present disclosure present a surgical stapling instrument that includes an end effector configured to staple tissue clamped between a first jaw and a second jaw of the end effector. In one aspect, positioning and orientation of previously stapled tissue within the end effector is determined by measuring and comparing tissue impedance at a number of predetermined zones within the end effector. In various aspects, tissue impedance measurements can also be utilized to identify overlapped layers of tissue and their position within an end effector.
As described above, a previously stapled tissue is a tissue that includes staples that were previously deployed into the tissue. Circular staplers are often utilized in stapling previously stapled tissue to unstapled tissue (e.g. J-pouch procedures), as illustrated in
The presence of the staples in tissue affects the tissue impedance as the staples usually have different conductivity than tissue. The present disclosure presents various tools and techniques for monitoring and comparing tissue impedances at the predetermined zones of an end effector (e.g. end effectors 25500, 25510) of a circular stapler to determine an optimal positioning and orientation of a previously-stapled tissue with respect to the end effector.
The examples on the left sides of
The examples on the right sides of
As used in connection with
On the contrary, in the example to the right of
In the example of
Conversely, in the example of
In the example of
Conversely, in the example of
In various aspects, a circular stapler (e.g. the circular stapler of
The microcontroller 461 may alert the surgical operator through the display 473, for example, of a detected improper positioning and/or orientation of previously stapled tissue. Other audio, haptic, and/or visual means can also be employed. The microcontroller 461 may also take steps to prevent the tissue stapling. For example, the microcontroller 461 may signal the motor driver 492 to deactivate the motor 482. In certain instances, the microcontroller 461 may recommend a new position and/or orientation to the surgical operator.
In various aspects, the circular staplers of the present disclosure are communicatively coupled to a surgical hub 106 (
For illustrative purposes, the following description depicts the process 25600 as being executable by a control circuit that includes a controller 461, which includes a processor 461. A memory 468 stores program instructions, which are executable by the processor 461 to perform the process 25600.
The process 25600 determines 25602 the type of surgical procedure being performed by the surgical stapler. The surgical procedure type can be determined using various techniques described under the heading “Situational Awareness”. The processor 25600 then selects 25604, based on the determined surgical procedure type, a tissue impedance signature for a properly positioned previously-stapled tissue. As described above, a properly positioned previously-stapled tissue in a J-pouch procedure, for example, comprises a different tissue impedance signature than in an End-To-End Anastomosis procedure, for example.
The process 25600 then determines 25606 whether measured tissue impedances in the predetermined zones correspond to the selected tissue impedance signature. If not, the processor 461 may alert 25608 the user and/or override 25610 the tissue treatment. In one aspect, the processor 461 may alert 25608 the user through the display 473. In addition, the processor 461 may override 25610 the tissue treatment by preventing the end effector from completing its firing, which can be accomplished by causing the motor driver 492 to stop the motor 482 (
If, however, the measured tissue impedances in the predetermined zones correspond to the selected tissue impedance signature, the processor 461 permits the end effector to proceed 25612 with the tissue treatment.
Referring generally to
Aspects of the present disclosure present a surgical instrument including a circuit configured to detect overhanging tissue in an end effector of the surgical instrument. Aspects of the present disclosure also present a surgical instrument including a circuit configured to detect tissue extending beyond a predetermined treatment region in an end effector of the surgical instrument.
In various examples, an end effector 25700 of a surgical instrument 25701 includes a first jaw 25702 and a second jaw 25704. The 25701 is similar in many respects to other surgical instruments discloses elsewhere herein such as, for example, the surgical instrument 150010. At least one of the first jaw 25702 and the second jaw 25704 is movable to transition the end effector 25700 between an open configuration (
The end effector 25700 further includes a flex circuit 25706 comprising a continuity sensor for detecting overhanging tissue. The overhanging tissue, when in contact with the continuity sensor, as illustrated in
The jaws 25702, 25704 define a treatment region 25714 therebetween where tissue treatment is applied in the closed configuration, as illustrated in
Bent tips or noses 25716, 25718 are defined in the jaws 25702, 25704 distal to the treatment region 25714. A stepped feature 25720 maintains a minimum distance or gap between the jaws 25702 and 25704 at the bent noses 25716, 25718 in the closed configuration.
The flex circuit 25706 is nestled in the nose 25716 of the first jaw 25702 such that, in the absence of tissue, a gap 25724 is maintained above the flex circuit 25706 by the stepped feature 25720.
In the example of
In the example of
The flex circuit 25706 extends distally from a flat, or substantially flat, portion 25728 of the staple cartridge 25708 between the stepped feature 25720 and the bent nose 25716. The flex circuit 25706 further extends down a ramp 25730 defined by the bent nose 25716, and extending from a distal edge of the flat portion 25728. Tissue extending beyond the stepped feature 25720 onto the flat portion 25728 and/or the ramp 25730, triggers the continuity sensor causing a sensor signal to be transmitted to the control system 470 (
Distal ends of the bent noses include corresponding alignment features 25722, 25732 positioned distal to the continuity sensor. In the example of
Although the continuity sensor is disposed onto the staple cartridge 25708, this should not be construed as limiting. For example, in certain instances, the continuity sensor can be disposed onto the distal nose 25718 of the anvil 25710.
In various aspects, a surgical instrument including an end effector 25700, as shown in
In certain instances, a surgical instrument 25701 including an end effector 25700, as shown in
In various aspects, when tissue overhanging is detected, a display 473 may show at least a partial view of the end effector 25700 such as, for example, a cartridge deck of the staple cartridge 25708 with tissue overhanging therefrom. Furthermore, impedance or another tissue compression estimation sensing means or 3D stacking or another visualization means can be employed to further indicate the amount of overhanging tissue sensed between the bent noses 25716, 25718.
Various aspects of the subject matter described herein are set out in the following examples:
Example 1—A surgical stapling instrument comprises an end effector. The end effector comprises a first jaw and a second jaw movable relative to the first jaw between an open configuration and a closed configuration to grasp tissue between the first jaw and the second jaw. The end effector further comprises an anvil and a staple cartridge. The staple cartridge comprises staples deployable into the tissue and deformable by the anvil. The surgical stapling system further comprises a control circuit. The control circuit is configured to determine tissue impedances at predetermined zones, detect an irregularity in tissue distribution within the end effector based on the tissue impedances, and adjust a closure parameter of the end effector in accordance with the irregularity.
Example 2—The surgical stapling instrument of Example 1, wherein the end effector comprises sensing circuits at the predetermined zones.
Example 3—The surgical stapling instrument of Example 1 or 2, wherein the predetermined zones are separated by insulating elements.
Example 4—The surgical stapling instrument of Example 1, 2, or 3, wherein the predetermined zones comprise an inner predetermined zone, an outer predetermined zone, and an intermediate predetermined zone between the inner predetermined zone and the outer predetermined zone.
Example 5—The surgical stapling instrument of Example 4, wherein detecting the irregularity in tissue distribution within the end effector comprises determining that an average of the tissue impedances at the inner predetermined zone and the outer predetermined zone is greater than the tissue impedance at the intermediate predetermined zone.
Example 6—The surgical stapling instrument of Example 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, wherein detecting the irregularity in tissue distribution within the end effector causes the control circuit to alert a user to release and reposition the tissue grasped by the end effector.
Example 7—The surgical stapling instrument of Example 4, wherein detecting the irregularity in tissue distribution within the end effector comprises determining that an average of the tissue impedances at the inner predetermined zone and the outer predetermined zone is less than or equal to the tissue impedance at the intermediate predetermined zone. Detecting the irregularity in tissue distribution within the end effector further comprises determining that the tissue impedance of the inner predetermined zone is greater than the tissue impedance of the outer predetermined zone.
Example 8—The surgical stapling instrument of Example 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7, further comprising a motor configured to motivate the end effector to transition to the closed configuration, wherein detecting the irregularity in tissue distribution within the end effector causes the control circuit to reduce a speed of the motor.
Example 9—The surgical stapling instrument of Example 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8, wherein the closure parameter is closure velocity.
Example 10—The surgical stapling instrument of Example 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9, wherein the control circuit is configured to pass at least one therapeutic signal through tissue at each of the predetermined zones to determine the tissue impedances.
Example 11—A surgical stapling instrument for stapling a previously-stapled tissue comprises a shaft defining a longitudinal axis extending there through, and an end effector extending from the shaft. The end effector comprises a first jaw and a second jaw movable relative to the first jaw between an open configuration and a closed configuration to grasp tissue between the first jaw and the second jaw. The end effector further comprises an anvil and a staple cartridge. The staple cartridge comprises staples deployable into the previously-stapled tissue and deformable by the anvil. The end effector further comprises predetermined zones between the anvil and the staple cartridge. The surgical stapling instrument further comprises a circuit. The circuit is configured to measure tissue impedances at the predetermined zones, compare the measured tissue impedances to a predetermined tissue impedance signature of the predetermined zones, and detect an irregularity in at least one of position and orientation of the previously-stapled tissue within the end effector from the comparison.
Example 12—The surgical stapling instrument of Example 11, wherein the end effector comprises sensing circuits at the predetermined zones.
Example 13—The surgical stapling instrument of Example 11 or 12, wherein the predetermined zones are separated by insulating elements.
Example 14—The surgical stapling instrument of Example 11, 12, or 13, wherein the predetermined zones are circumferentially arranged about the longitudinal axis.
Example 15—The surgical stapling instrument of Example 11, 12, 13, or 14, wherein detecting the irregularity causes the control circuit to alert a user.
Example 16—The surgical stapling instrument of Example 11, 12, 13, 14, or 15, wherein the control circuit is configured to pass at least one therapeutic signal through tissue at each of the predetermined zones to determine the tissue impedances.
Example 17—A surgical stapling instrument comprises an end effector. The end effector comprises a first jaw and a second jaw movable relative to the first jaw between an open configuration and a closed configuration to grasp tissue between the first jaw and the second jaw. The end effector further comprises an anvil and a staple cartridge. The staple cartridge comprises staples deployable into the tissue and deformable by the anvil. The end effector further comprises predetermined zones between the anvil and the staple cartridge. The surgical stapling instrument further comprises a control circuit. The control circuit is configured to determine an electrical parameter of the tissue at each of the predetermined zones, detect an irregularity in tissue distribution within the end effector based on the determined electrical parameters, and adjust a closure parameter of the end effector in accordance with the irregularity.
Example 18—The surgical stapling instrument of Example 17, wherein the end effector comprises sensing circuits at the predetermined zones.
Example 19—The surgical stapling instrument of Example 17 or 18, wherein the predetermined zones are separated by insulating elements.
Example 20—The surgical stapling instrument of Example 17, 18, or 19, wherein the closure parameter is closure velocity.
The foregoing detailed description has set forth various forms of the devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts, and/or examples. Insofar as such block diagrams, flowcharts, and/or examples contain one or more functions and/or operations, it will be understood by those within the art that each function and/or operation within such block diagrams, flowcharts, and/or examples can be implemented, individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. Those skilled in the art will recognize that some aspects of the forms disclosed herein, in whole or in part, can be equivalently implemented in integrated circuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or more computers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computer systems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors), as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designing the circuitry and/or writing the code for the software and or firmware would be well within the skill of one of skill in the art in light of this disclosure. In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the mechanisms of the subject matter described herein are capable of being distributed as one or more program products in a variety of forms, and that an illustrative form of the subject matter described herein applies regardless of the particular type of signal bearing medium used to actually carry out the distribution.
Instructions used to program logic to perform various disclosed aspects can be stored within a memory in the system, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), cache, flash memory, or other storage. Furthermore, the instructions can be distributed via a network or by way of other computer readable media. Thus a machine-readable medium may include any mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer), but is not limited to, floppy diskettes, optical disks, compact disc, read-only memory (CD-ROMs), and magneto-optical disks, read-only memory (ROMs), random access memory (RAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic or optical cards, flash memory, or a tangible, machine-readable storage used in the transmission of information over the Internet via electrical, optical, acoustical or other forms of propagated signals (e.g., carrier waves, infrared signals, digital signals, etc.). Accordingly, the non-transitory computer-readable medium includes any type of tangible machine-readable medium suitable for storing or transmitting electronic instructions or information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer).
As used in any aspect herein, the term “control circuit” may refer to, for example, hardwired circuitry, programmable circuitry (e.g., a computer processor comprising one or more individual instruction processing cores, processing unit, processor, microcontroller, microcontroller unit, controller, digital signal processor (DSP), programmable logic device (PLD), programmable logic array (PLA), or field programmable gate array (FPGA)), state machine circuitry, firmware that stores instructions executed by programmable circuitry, and any combination thereof. The control circuit may, collectively or individually, be embodied as circuitry that forms part of a larger system, for example, an integrated circuit (IC), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a system on-chip (SoC), desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, servers, smart phones, etc. Accordingly, as used herein “control circuit” includes, but is not limited to, electrical circuitry having at least one discrete electrical circuit, electrical circuitry having at least one integrated circuit, electrical circuitry having at least one application specific integrated circuit, electrical circuitry forming a general purpose computing device configured by a computer program (e.g., a general purpose computer configured by a computer program which at least partially carries out processes and/or devices described herein, or a microprocessor configured by a computer program which at least partially carries out processes and/or devices described herein), electrical circuitry forming a memory device (e.g., forms of random access memory), and/or electrical circuitry forming a communications device (e.g., a modem, communications switch, or optical-electrical equipment). Those having skill in the art will recognize that the subject matter described herein may be implemented in an analog or digital fashion or some combination thereof.
As used in any aspect herein, the term “logic” may refer to an app, software, firmware and/or circuitry configured to perform any of the aforementioned operations. Software may be embodied as a software package, code, instructions, instruction sets and/or data recorded on non-transitory computer readable storage medium. Firmware may be embodied as code, instructions or instruction sets and/or data that are hard-coded (e.g., nonvolatile) in memory devices.
As used in any aspect herein, the terms “component,” “system,” “module” and the like can refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution.
As used in any aspect herein, an “algorithm” refers to a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desired result, where a “step” refers to a manipulation of physical quantities and/or logic states which may, though need not necessarily, take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It is common usage to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like. These and similar terms may be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities and/or states.
A network may include a packet switched network. The communication devices may be capable of communicating with each other using a selected packet switched network communications protocol. One example communications protocol may include an Ethernet communications protocol which may be capable permitting communication using a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). The Ethernet protocol may comply or be compatible with the Ethernet standard published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) titled “IEEE 802.3 Standard”, published in December, 2008 and/or later versions of this standard. Alternatively or additionally, the communication devices may be capable of communicating with each other using an X.25 communications protocol. The X.25 communications protocol may comply or be compatible with a standard promulgated by the International Telecommunication Union-Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T). Alternatively or additionally, the communication devices may be capable of communicating with each other using a frame relay communications protocol. The frame relay communications protocol may comply or be compatible with a standard promulgated by Consultative Committee for International Telegraph and Telephone (CCITT) and/or the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Alternatively or additionally, the transceivers may be capable of communicating with each other using an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) communications protocol. The ATM communications protocol may comply or be compatible with an ATM standard published by the ATM Forum titled “ATM-MPLS Network Interworking 2.0” published August 2001, and/or later versions of this standard. Of course, different and/or after-developed connection-oriented network communication protocols are equally contemplated herein.
Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the foregoing disclosure, it is appreciated that, throughout the foregoing disclosure, discussions using terms such as “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,” “displaying,” or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.
One or more components may be referred to herein as “configured to,” “configurable to,” “operable/operative to,” “adapted/adaptable,” “able to,” “conformable/conformed to,” etc. Those skilled in the art will recognize that “configured to” can generally encompass active-state components and/or inactive-state components and/or standby-state components, unless context requires otherwise.
The terms “proximal” and “distal” are used herein with reference to a clinician manipulating the handle portion of the surgical instrument. The term “proximal” refers to the portion closest to the clinician and the term “distal” refers to the portion located away from the clinician. It will be further appreciated that, for convenience and clarity, spatial terms such as “vertical”, “horizontal”, “up”, and “down” may be used herein with respect to the drawings. However, surgical instruments are used in many orientations and positions, and these terms are not intended to be limiting and/or absolute.
Those skilled in the art will recognize that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to claims containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations.
In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that typically a disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms unless context dictates otherwise. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be typically understood to include the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”
With respect to the appended claims, those skilled in the art will appreciate that recited operations therein may generally be performed in any order. Also, although various operational flow diagrams are presented in a sequence(s), it should be understood that the various operations may be performed in other orders than those which are illustrated, or may be performed concurrently. Examples of such alternate orderings may include overlapping, interleaved, interrupted, reordered, incremental, preparatory, supplemental, simultaneous, reverse, or other variant orderings, unless context dictates otherwise. Furthermore, terms like “responsive to,” “related to,” or other past-tense adjectives are generally not intended to exclude such variants, unless context dictates otherwise.
It is worthy to note that any reference to “one aspect,” “an aspect,” “an exemplification,” “one exemplification,” and the like means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the aspect is included in at least one aspect. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one aspect,” “in an aspect,” “in an exemplification,” and “in one exemplification” in various places throughout the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same aspect. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more aspects.
Any patent application, patent, non-patent publication, or other disclosure material referred to in this specification and/or listed in any Application Data Sheet is incorporated by reference herein, to the extent that the incorporated materials is not inconsistent herewith. As such, and to the extent necessary, the disclosure as explicitly set forth herein supersedes any conflicting material incorporated herein by reference. Any material, or portion thereof, that is said to be incorporated by reference herein, but which conflicts with existing definitions, statements, or other disclosure material set forth herein will only be incorporated to the extent that no conflict arises between that incorporated material and the existing disclosure material.
In summary, numerous benefits have been described which result from employing the concepts described herein. The foregoing description of the one or more forms has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or limiting to the precise form disclosed. Modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The one or more forms were chosen and described in order to illustrate principles and practical application to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the various forms and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the claims submitted herewith define the overall scope.
This application is a divisional application claiming priority under 35 U.S.C. § 121 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/024,094, titled SURGICAL SYSTEMS FOR DETECTING END EFFECTOR TISSUE DISTRIBUTION IRREGULARITIES, filed Jun. 29, 2018, which claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/691,227, titled CONTROLLING A SURGICAL INSTRUMENT ACCORDING TO SENSED CLOSURE PARAMETERS, filed Jun. 28, 2018, the disclosures of each of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entireties. This application is a divisional application claiming priority under 35 U.S.C. § 121 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/024,094, titled SURGICAL SYSTEMS FOR DETECTING END EFFECTOR TISSUE DISTRIBUTION IRREGULARITIES, filed Jun. 29, 2018, which also claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/650,887, titled SURGICAL SYSTEMS WITH OPTIMIZED SENSING CAPABILITIES, filed Mar. 30, 2018, to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/650,877, titled SURGICAL SMOKE EVACUATION SENSING AND CONTROLS, filed Mar. 30, 2018, to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/650,882, titled SMOKE EVACUATION MODULE FOR INTERACTIVE SURGICAL PLATFORM, filed Mar. 30, 2018, and to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/650,898, titled CAPACITIVE COUPLED RETURN PATH PAD WITH SEPARABLE ARRAY ELEMENTS, filed Mar. 30, 2018, the disclosures of each of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entireties. This application is a divisional application claiming priority under 35 U.S.C. § 121 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/024,094, titled SURGICAL SYSTEMS FOR DETECTING END EFFECTOR TISSUE DISTRIBUTION IRREGULARITIES, filed Jun. 29, 2018, which also claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/640,417, titled TEMPERATURE CONTROL IN ULTRASONIC DEVICE AND CONTROL SYSTEM THEREFOR, filed Mar. 8, 2018, and to Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/640,415, titled ESTIMATING STATE OF ULTRASONIC END EFFECTOR AND CONTROL SYSTEM THEREFOR, filed Mar. 8, 2018, the disclosures of each of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entireties. This application is a divisional application claiming priority under 35 U.S.C. § 121 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/024,094, titled SURGICAL SYSTEMS FOR DETECTING END EFFECTOR TISSUE DISTRIBUTION IRREGULARITIES, filed Jun. 29, 2018, which also claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/611,341, titled INTERACTIVE SURGICAL PLATFORM, filed Dec. 28, 2017, to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/611,340, titled CLOUD-BASED MEDICAL ANALYTICS, filed Dec. 28, 2017, and to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/611,339, titled ROBOT ASSISTED SURGICAL PLATFORM, filed Dec. 28, 2017, the disclosures of each of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entireties.
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| Parent | 16024094 | Jun 2018 | US |
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