Surgical instrument with staged application of electrosurgical and ultrasonic energy

A surgical instrument, comprising:

• (a) a shaft assembly including an acoustic waveguide, wherein the acoustic waveguide is configured to acoustically couple with an ultrasonic transducer;
• and
• (b) an end effector, including:
• (i) an ultrasonic blade in acoustic communication with the acoustic waveguide,
• (ii) a clamp arm movably mounted relative to the ultrasonic blade and configured to compress a tissue against the ultrasonic blade, and
• (iii) a first electrode configured to receive a radiofrequency (RF) electrosurgical energy via a control module for applying the RF electrosurgical energy to the tissue, and wherein the first electrode is further configured to sense a first condition of the tissue contacted by the end effector and communicate the first condition of the tissue to the control module.

A surgical instrument, comprising:

• (a) a shaft assembly including an acoustic waveguide, wherein the acoustic waveguide is configured to acoustically couple with an ultrasonic transducer;
• (b) an end effector, including:
• (i) an ultrasonic blade in acoustic communication with the acoustic waveguide,
• (ii) a clamp arm movably mounted relative to the ultrasonic blade and configured to compress a tissue against the ultrasonic blade, and
• (iii) a first electrode configured to apply a radiofrequency (RF) electrosurgical energy to the tissue, wherein the first electrode is configured to sense a first condition of tissue contacted by the end effector;
• and
• (c) a control module operatively connected to the first electrode and having a control logic with a first predetermined condition level residing thereon, wherein the control module is operatively connected to the first electrode such that the control logic is configured to receive the first condition of the tissue and determine when the first condition has reached the first predetermined condition level.

A method of sealing a tissue with a surgical instrument, wherein the surgical instrument includes (a) a shaft assembly including an acoustic waveguide, wherein the acoustic waveguide is configured to acoustically couple with an ultrasonic transducer;

• and (b) an end effector, including:
• (i) an ultrasonic blade in acoustic communication with the acoustic waveguide, (ii) a clamp arm movably mounted relative to the ultrasonic blade and configured to compress a tissue against the ultrasonic blade, and (iii) a first electrode configured to receive a radiofrequency (RF) electrosurgical energy via a control module for applying the RF electrosurgical energy to the tissue, and wherein the first electrode is further configured to sense a first condition of the tissue contacted by the end effector and communicate the first condition of the tissue to the control module, the method comprising:
• (a) applying the RF electrosurgical energy to the tissue via the first electrode to thereby pre-heat the tissue;
• (b) sensing a temperature of the tissue as the first condition via the first electrode while applying the RF electrosurgical energy to the tissue;
• (c) detecting a first condition data of the first condition via the first electrode thereby indicating that the temperature of the tissue has reached a first predetermined temperature level;
• and
• (d) applying an ultrasonic energy to the tissue to thereby seal the tissue based the indication that the temperature of the tissue has reached the first predetermined condition level.