Drive Mechanism for Articulation of a Surgical Instrument

A surgical instrument, comprising:

• a housing;
• an end effector operable from the housing to surgically manipulate tissue;
• an elongated shaft extending between the housing and the end effector, the elongated shaft including proximal and distal portions, wherein the proximal portion extends from the housing and defines a longitudinal axis, and wherein the distal portion is coupled to the proximal portion by at least one articulation joint such that the distal portion is movable between an aligned configuration and an articulated configuration with respect to the longitudinal axis;
• a pair of drive cables extending at least partially through the elongated shaft and coupled to the distal portion of the elongated shaft such that reciprocal longitudinal motion of the drive cables induces the distal portion of the elongated shaft to move between the aligned and articulated configurations;
• and
• an articulation drive mechanism operable to induce reciprocal longitudinal motion of the drive cables, the articulation drive mechanism comprising:
• an actuator movably coupled to the housing;
• a pair of torsion members, wherein the torsion members are rotatable about two distinct axes in response to movement of the actuator;
• and
• a pair of followers, wherein each follower is coupled to a respective torsion member such that rotation of the torsion members induces translational motion of the followers in reciprocal directions, and wherein each follower is coupled to a respective drive cable such that the reciprocal motion of the followers induces reciprocal longitudinal motion of the drive cables.