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US 11,896,439 B2Granted
Load sensing devices for use in surgical instruments
AssigneeCovidien LP
InventorMatthew Eschbach
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A surgical end effector includes an anvil assembly; a cartridge assembly including a plurality of fasteners; a drive assembly movable longitudinally to approximate the anvil assembly relative to the cartridge assembly; and a strain gauge circuit disposed within the cartridge assembly, the strain gauge circuit configured to measure a strain imparted on the cartridge assembly by the drive assembly.
Claims19
A surgical end effector comprising:
- a housing
- a drive assembly movable within the housing;
- a strain gauge circuit disposed within the housing, the strain gauge circuit configured to measure a strain imparted on the housing by the drive assembly, the strain gauge circuit includes a flexible circuit, the flexible circuit having:
- a first flexible dielectric substrate;
- a resistive sensor layer disposed over the first flexible dielectric substrate;
- a conductive layer disposed over the resistive sensor layer;
- and
- a second flexible dielectric substrate disposed over the resistive sensor layer and the conductive layer.
5 more elements
A surgical end effector comprising:
- a housing;
- a drive assembly movable within the housing;
- and
- a strain gauge circuit disposed within the housing, the strain gauge circuit configured to measure a strain imparted on the housing by the drive assembly, the strain gauge circuit includes a strain gauge portion and a lead portion having a slack portion with at least one turn.
1 more element
A surgical instrument comprising:
- a handle assembly including a controller and a power source;
- a longitudinal shaft including a proximal end portion coupled to the handle assembly and a distal end portion;
- and
- a surgical end effector having:
- a housing;
- a drive assembly movable within the housing;
- and
- a strain gauge circuit disposed within the housing and electrically coupled to the controller and the power source, the strain gauge circuit configured to measure a strain imparted on the housing by the drive assembly and to transmit a measurement signal to the controller, the strain gauge circuit includes a flexible circuit, the flexible circuit having:
- a first flexible dielectric substrate;
- a resistive sensor layer disposed over the first flexible dielectric substrate;
- a conductive layer disposed over the resistive sensor layer;
- and
- a second flexible dielectric substrate disposed over the resistive sensor layer and the conductive layer.
10 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.