Surgical instrument battery pack with voltage polling
AssigneeEthicon, Inc.
InventorsDavid C. Yates, Frederick E. Shelton, IV
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of operating a medical device comprises electrically connecting a power device to the medical device. The method further comprises sensing at least one characteristic of one of the medical device with the power device. The method further comprises adjusting or maintaining one or more characteristics of an electrical connection feature the power device according to the at least one observed characteristic such that the electrical connection features of the power device and medical device are operationally compatible, and operating the power device according to an operational profile associated with the medical device.
Claims20
A method of operating a medical device, comprising:
- (a) electrically connecting a power device to the medical device, wherein the power device comprises at least one battery configured to provide operational power to the medical device, wherein the power device and the medical device are connected via complementary electrical connection features;
- (b) sensing at least one characteristic of one of the medical device with the power device, wherein the act of sensing at least one characteristic of the medical device comprises providing partial power to the medical device;
- (c) adjusting or maintaining one or more characteristics of the electrical connection feature of the power device according to the at least one sensed characteristic such that the electrical connection features of the power device and medical device are operationally compatible;
- and
- (d) operating the power device according to an operational profile associated with the medical device.
The method of claim 14, further comprising transmitting the usage data to a centralized system.
A battery pack for providing power to a medical device, comprising:
- (a) a battery;
- (b) an electrical interface having a pair of output terminals, wherein the interface is configured to be electrically coupled to an interface of a medical device, wherein the electrical interface is configured to provide power from the battery to the medical device via the output terminals;
- (c) a processor configured to send an electrical power output to the output terminals;
- (d) a voltage regulator in communication with the processor and configured to regulate a voltage of the electrical power output;
- and
- (e) a sensor in communication with the processor;
- wherein the processor is further configured to maintain or adjust one or more properties of the output terminals based on a signal from the sensor.
A medical device, comprising:
- (a) a body;
- (b) an electrical interface configured to electrically couple the body with a power device;
- (c) a sensor configured to sense at least one characteristic of the power device coupled with the body;
- and
- (d) a processor in communication with the sensor and configured to adjust or maintain one or more properties of the electrical interface based on an input signal from the sensor;
- wherein the sensor is further configured to send an input signal to the processor based on the sensed at least one characteristic.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.