Back to results
US 12,622,721 B2Granted
Surgical instrument assembly
AssigneeCilag GmbH International
InventorsFrederick E. Shelton, IV, Shane R. Adams, Nicholas J. Ross, Jason L. Harris, Sudhir B. Patel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods of operating a surgical instrument are disclosed herein.
Claims20
A surgical instrument assembly, comprising:
- a shaft;
- an end effector attached to the shaft;
- a sub-component system configured to experience strain within the surgical instrument assembly;
- a woven conductive fabric attached to the sub-component system, wherein the woven conductive fabric comprises:
- a primary body portion;
- and
- a plurality of conductive fibers extending through the primary body portion;
- and
- a control circuit configured to monitor a resistance of the woven conductive fabric and determine a load on the sub-component system based on the resistance of the woven conductive fabric.
6 more elements
A surgical instrument assembly, comprising:
- a shaft;
- an articulation joint;
- an end effector attached to the shaft by way of the articulation joint;
- a firing member comprising:
- a plurality of bands attached to each other;
- and
- a plurality of conductive fabrics;
- wherein each band comprises a conductive fabric attached thereto;
- and
- a control circuit configured to monitor a resistance of each conductive fabric to measure a parameter of each band.
7 more elements
A surgical instrument, comprising:
- a shaft;
- a sub-component system configured to experience strain within the surgical instrument;
- a woven conductive fabric attached to the sub-component system, the woven conductive fabric comprising:
- a body portion;
- and
- a plurality of conductive fibers extending through the body portion;
- and
- a control circuit configured to monitor a resistance of the woven conductive fabric and determine a load on the sub-component system based on the resistance of the woven conductive fabric.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.