Systems and methods for clamping and stapling to a pressure by a surgical stapling instrument

A surgical stapling instrument comprising:

• an anvil assembly including an anvil head and an anvil center rod extending proximally from the anvil head;
• a reload assembly including an annular staple cartridge including a plurality of staples;
• a processor;
• and
• a memory, including instructions stored thereon, which when executed cause the surgical stapling instrument to:
• advance the anvil assembly in relation to the staple cartridge to a first position to define a first tissue gap between the staple cartridge and the anvil assembly that is within a predetermined acceptable range of tissue gaps;
• measure a first force of tissue compression of the tissue clamped within the first tissue gap with the anvil assembly in the first position;
• and
• enter a firing mode of the surgical stapling instrument if the first force of tissue compression is within a predetermined acceptable range of tissue compression.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method for controlling a surgical stapling instrument for clamping and stapling tissue to a pressure, comprising:

• advancing an anvil assembly in relation to a staple cartridge to a first position to define a first tissue gap between the staple cartridge and the anvil assembly that is within a predetermined acceptable range of tissue gaps;
• measuring a first force of tissue compression of the tissue clamped within the first tissue gap with the anvil assembly in the first position;
• and
• entering a firing mode of the surgical stapling instrument if the first force of tissue compression is within a predetermined acceptable range of tissue compression.