Wireless force sensor on a distal portion of a surgical instrument and method

Abstract

A surgical instrument includes a distal portion. A force sensor is operatively mounted on the distal portion. The force sensor includes a wireless package, which wirelessly provides (1) identification information of the surgical instrument and (2) strain data related to the distal portion. A surgical end effector includes a jaw and the distal portion is on a non-contact portion of the jaw. The wireless package includes a surface acoustic wave strain sensor with identification information. The wireless package also includes a small folded antenna electrically coupled to the surface acoustic wave strain sensor with identification information. The identification information includes an identification of a type of surgical instrument and unique identification of the specific surgical instrument in the type of surgical instrument.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.