Surgical instruments, systems, methods, and attachments therefor utilizing vibration feedback

Abstract

A surgical system includes a surgical instrument, a motion sensor, and a computing device. The surgical instrument includes a housing, an end effector assembly distally-spaced from the housing, and a movable component movable relative to the housing. The motion sensor is disposed on or within the housing and configured to sense a vibration signature associated with movement of the movable component relative to the housing. The computing device communicates with the motion sensor, is configured to receive the vibration signature therefrom, and is configured to determine a condition of the movable component based on the vibration signature. A method of monitoring a surgical instrument includes sensing a vibration signature generated from movement of a movable component of a surgical instrument relative to a housing of the surgical instrument, and determining, based on the sensed vibration signature, a condition of the movable component.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.