Partially conductive clamp arm pad to enable electrode wear through and minimize short circuiting

An end-effector, comprising:

• a clamp arm;
• and
• an ultrasonic blade configured to acoustically couple to an ultrasonic transducer and to electrically couple to a pole of an electrical generator;
• wherein the clamp arm comprises:
• a clamp jaw;
• and
• a clamp arm pad comprising electrically non-conductive layers and electrically conductive layers arranged in a sandwich like configuration, wherein the electrically conductive layers are configured to electrically couple to an opposite pole of the electrical generator.

An end-effector, comprising:

• a clamp arm;
• and
• an ultrasonic blade configured to acoustically couple to an ultrasonic transducer and to electrically couple to a pole of an electrical generator;
• wherein the clamp arm comprises:
• a clamp jaw;
• and
• a composite clamp arm pad attached to the clamp jaw, wherein the composite clamp arm pad comprises electrically non-conductive layers and electrically conductive layers, wherein the electrically conductive layers of the composite clamp arm pad are configured to electrically couple to an opposite pole of the electrical generator.

An end-effector, comprising:

• a clamp arm;
• and
• an ultrasonic blade configured to acoustically couple to an ultrasonic transducer and to electrically couple to a pole of an electrical generator;
• wherein the clamp arm comprises:
• a clamp jaw;
• a carrier attached to the clamp jaw;
• and
• a clamp arm pad comprising an electrically conductive pad and an electrically non-conductive pad.