System and method for activating a surgical instrument, and foot switch assembly for controlling a surgical instrument

Abstract

Provided herein is a system with a safety lock that is configured to at least partially prevent use of a surgical instrument. A foot switch assembly is operably configured to control the surgical instrument and has multiple switches. A memory is present for storing a predetermined switch sequence associated with the switches of the foot switch assembly, as well as a control unit that is configured to determine whether a series of input switch actuations from the foot switch assembly corresponds to the predetermined switch sequence, and if so, deactivating the safety lock in response to the series of input switch actuations corresponding to the predetermined switch sequence. Also provided are various embodiments of a foot switch assembly for controlling a surgical instrument.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.