Systems and subsystems for articulating a surgical instrument

An articulation joint for a surgical instrument comprising:

• a plurality of concentric discs, each of the plurality of concentric discs having a concentric central opening;
• a center beam assembly comprising a proximal end and a distal end, a portion of the center beam assembly extending through the central opening of each concentric disc, the plurality of concentric discs being nestably stacked on the center beam assembly, the center beam assembly compressing the plurality of concentric discs, the distal end of the center beam assembly being configured to couple to the plurality of concentric discs to an end effector of the surgical instrument, and the proximal end of the center beam assembly being configured to couple the plurality of concentric discs to a shaft of the surgical instrument.

A cable articulation subsystem for a surgical instrument comprising:

• a joint comprising a distal end;
• and
• only two continuous articulation cables, a middle section of each continuous articulation cable being mechanically grounded to the joint distal end so as to functionally divide each continuous articulation cable into a first articulation cable and a second articulation cable, and a proximal end of each first articulation cable and each second articulation cable being discretely manipulable to cause rotation of the joint about at least one of a pitch axis and a yaw axis.