Surgical instrument end effector with integral FBG
AssigneeIntuitive Surgical Operations, Inc.
InventorsJohn Ryan Steger, Grant M. Kadokura, Andrew C. Waterbury, Manuel Ahumada
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Abstract
A surgical instrument is provided that includes an elongated shaft that includes a proximal end and a distal end; a cantilever beam is disposed at the distal end of the shaft; an optical fiber extends within a channel that extends within between proximal and distal portions of the cantilever beam; a first fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is formed in a segment of the optical fiber within the proximal portion of the beam; a second FBG is formed in a segment of the optical fiber within the distal portion of the beam.
Claims12
A surgical instrument comprising:
- an elongated shaft including a proximal end and a distal end;
- a support base member secured to the distal end of the elongated shaft;
- a first force-sensing cantilever beam secured to the support base member;
- a second force-sensing cantilever beam secured to the support base member;
- a center cantilever beam secured to the support base member between the first and second force-sensing cantilever beams,
- the center cantilever beam being longer than the first and second force-sensing cantilever beams,
- the center cantilever beam including a proximal portion, a distal portion and a shoulder portion between the proximal portion and the distal portion, and
- the distal portion of the center cantilever beam including a working surface to impart a force upon anatomical tissue;
- a first optical fiber positioned along the first force-sensing cantilever beam and including a first fiber Bragg grating (FBG);
- and
- a second optical fiber positioned along the second force-sensing cantilever beam and including a second FBG;
- wherein the first force-sensing cantilever beam is positioned to contact the shoulder portion of the center cantilever beam during a bending motion of the center cantilever beam toward the first force-sensing cantilever beam;
- and
- wherein the second force-sensing cantilever beam is positioned to contact the shoulder portion of the center cantilever beam during a bending motion of the center cantilever beam toward the second force-sensing cantilever beam.
A surgical instrument comprising:
- an elongated shaft including a proximal end and a distal end;
- a support base member secured to the distal end of the elongated shaft;
- a force-sensing cantilever beam secured to the support base member;
- a force-imparting cantilever beam secured to the support base member adjacent the force-sensing cantilever beam,
- the force-imparting cantilever beam being longer than the force-sensing cantilever beam,
- the force-imparting cantilever beam including a proximal portion, a distal portion, and a shoulder portion between the proximal portion and the distal portion, and
- the distal portion of the force-imparting cantilever beam including a working surface to impart a force upon anatomical tissue;
- and
- an optical fiber positioned along the force-sensing cantilever beam including a fiber Bragg grating;
- wherein the force-sensing cantilever beam is positioned to contact the shoulder portion of the force-imparting cantilever beam during a bending motion of the force-imparting cantilever beam toward the force-sensing cantilever beam.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.