Routing mechanisms for surgical instruments, and related devices, systems, and methods

A surgical instrument, comprising:

• a shaft having a proximal end, a distal end, and a bore extending from the proximal end to the distal end;
• an end effector coupled to the distal end of the shaft;
• an actuation member extending through the bore of the shaft and operably coupled to the end effector;
• a sleeve disposed around the actuation member and within the bore of the shaft, wherein the sleeve comprises a negative feature in a lateral wall of the sleeve, the negative feature extending along at least a portion of a length of the sleeve;
• and
• a flux conduit configured to transmit a surgical flux to the end effector, the flux conduit extending from the proximal end of the shaft to the end effector, the flux conduit being at least partially received within the negative feature of the sleeve.

A surgical instrument, comprising:

• a shaft having a proximal end, a distal end, and a bore extending from the proximal end to the distal end;
• an end effector;
• a wrist mechanism coupling the end effector to the distal end of the shaft, the wrist mechanism being configured to articulate about a neutral position relative to the shaft;
• an actuation member extending through the bore of the shaft and the wrist mechanism, the actuation member being operably coupled to the end effector;
• a sleeve surrounding the actuation member at least within the wrist mechanism, the sleeve having a straight passage radially offset from the actuation member and extending along the sleeve at least within the wrist mechanism;
• and
• a flux conduit extending through the bore of the shaft from the proximal end to the distal end, the flux conduit being operably coupled to the end effector, the flux conduit being received within the straight passage of the sleeve, wherein a slack portion of the flux conduit is slack in a region of the shaft through which the sleeve does not extend.

A method of forming a surgical instrument, comprising:

• routing an actuation member through a central bore of an instrument shaft and operably coupling the actuation member to an end effector at a distal end;
• positioning a sleeve within the bore and at least partially surrounding the actuation member with the sleeve;
• operably coupling a flux conduit to the end effector so as to enable the flux conduit to transmit a surgical flux to the end effector;
• and
• routing the flux conduit through the bore of the instrument shaft to the end effector by disposing at least part of a length of the flux conduit at least partially within a negative feature in a lateral wall of the sleeve.