Surgical instrument with rapid post event detection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10162312-B2
Application number	US-201614996814-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 15, 2016
Priority date	Oct 23, 2012
Publication date	Dec 25, 2018
Grant date	Dec 25, 2018

Abstract

A surgical instrument is disclosed, the instrument including: a handle assembly; a jaw assembly including a staple cartridge containing a plurality of staples and an anvil to form the plurality of staples upon firing; a lockout mechanism configured to prevent reuse of the jaw assembly; a drive assembly at least partially located within the handle and connected to the jaw assembly; a motor operatively coupled to the drive assembly; and a controller operatively coupled to the motor, the controller configured to control supply of electrical current to the motor and to monitor a current draw of the motor, wherein the controller is further configured to terminate the supply of electrical current to the motor in response to a drop in the current draw.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for controlling a surgical instrument, the method comprising:
activating a motor operatively coupled to an end effector;
monitoring a current draw of the motor; and
terminating supply of electric current to the motor in response to a drop off of the current draw indicative of a failure of a safety mechanism.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
storing a fault state in a memory in response to the drop in the current draw.

3. The method according to claim 2 , further comprising:
clearing the fault state after the end effector is uncoupled from the end effector.

4. A surgical instrument, comprising:
an end effector; and
a handle assembly including:
a drive assembly removably couplable to the end effector;
a motor operatively coupled to the drive assembly;
a safety mechanism configured to prevent improper use of the surgical instrument; and
a controller operatively coupled to the motor, the controller configured to:
control supply of an electrical current to the motor;
monitor a current draw of the motor; and
terminate the supply of the electrical current to the motor in response to a drop in the current draw indicative of a failure of the safety mechanism.

5. The surgical instrument according to claim 4 , wherein the end effector is a jaw assembly including a cartridge having a plurality of fasteners and an anvil to form the plurality of fasteners upon firing.

6. The surgical instrument according to claim 4 , wherein the safety mechanism is a lockout mechanism configured to prevent reuse of the end effector.

7. The surgical instrument according to claim 6 , wherein the jaw assembly includes a drive beam coupled to the lockout mechanism, the lockout mechanism configured to transition between an unlocked state and a locked state upon distal movement of the drive beam.

8. The surgical instrument according to claim 7 , wherein the drop in the current draw corresponds to a failure of the lockout mechanism to transition into the locked state upon retraction of the drive beam.

9. The surgical instrument according to claim 8 , wherein the lockout mechanism includes a locking member pivotal between an unlocked position and a locked position.

10. The surgical instrument according to claim 9 , wherein the jaw assembly further includes a housing defining a projection mounted therein configured to engage the locking member upon retraction of the drive beam.

11. A surgical instrument, comprising:
an end effector; and
a handle assembly including:
a drive assembly removably couplable to the end effector, the drive assembly including a safety mechanism;
a motor operatively coupled to the drive assembly;
a drive circuit coupled to the motor and configured to measure a current draw of the motor; and
a controller operatively coupled to the motor, the controller configured to terminate a supply of an electrical current to the motor in response to a drop in the current draw indicative of a failure of the safety mechanism.

12. The surgical instrument according to claim 11 , wherein the end effector includes a jaw assembly having a cartridge containing a plurality of fasteners and an anvil to form the plurality of fasteners.

13. The surgical instrument according to claim 12 , wherein the jaw assembly includes a drive beam coupled to the safety mechanism.

14. The surgical instrument according to claim 11 , wherein the controller is further configured to store a fault state in a memory in response to the drop in the current draw.

15. The surgical instrument according to claim 14 , wherein the fault state is cleared after the end effector is removed from the handle assembly.

16. The surgical instrument according to claim 11 , wherein the controller is configured to detect the drop in the current draw based on a rate of change of the current draw.

17. The surgical instrument according to claim 13 , wherein the safety mechanism is configured to transition between an unlocked state and a locked state upon distal movement of the drive beam.

18. The surgical instrument according to claim 17 , wherein the drop in the current draw corresponds to a failure of the safety mechanism to transition into the locked state upon retraction of the drive beam.

19. The surgical instrument according to claim 18 , wherein the safety mechanism includes a locking member pivotal between an unlocked position and a locked position.

20. The surgical instrument according to claim 19 , wherein the jaw assembly further includes a housing defining a projection mounted therein configured to engage the locking member upon retraction of the drive beam.

21. The surgical instrument according to claim 11 , further comprising a control assembly coupled to the controller, wherein the controller disregards user inputs from the control assembly in response to the drop in the current draw.

Assignees

• Covidien Lp

Inventors

• Wingardner Thomas
• Irka Philip
• Ingmanson Michael

Classifications

• A61B2017/00734

  battery operated · CPC title

• A61B17/068

  Surgical staplers {, e.g. containing multiple staples or clamps}({staplers containing only one staple A61B17/10; magazines or containers for staples A61B17/105;} for performing anastomosis A61B17/115; {staplers in general B25C5/00}) · CPC title

• A61B2017/00398

  using powered actuators, e.g. stepper motors, solenoids · CPC title

• A61B2090/0814

  Preventing re-use · CPC title

• A61B2017/00464

  for use with different instruments · CPC title