Endoscopic surgical system with sensing means

Claim 2

A system according to Claim 1 which includes means for identifying said instrument type, detecting said identification and controlling use of the instrument according to said identification.

Claim 3

A system according to claim 1 wherein the instrument applies staples to tissue held by the instrument during the step in the procedure, the means for supplying power to the instrument is used to drive the staples into the tissue and the sensing means determines the presence or absence of staples in the instrument.

Claim 4

A system according to claim 1 which includes sensing means for determining at least one property of the tissue held by the instrument.

Claim 5

A system according to claim 1 wherein the instrument includes a knife for severing tissue held by the instrument during the step in the procedure, the means for supplying power to the instrument operates the knife to sever tissue held by the instrument and the sensing means determines the position of the knife in the instrument.

Claim 6

A system according to Claim 5 which includes sensing means for measuring tissue thickness.

Claim 7

A system according to claim 1 wherein the instrument applies a plurality of clips used to ligate vessels during the step in the procedure, the means for supplying power to the instrument closes a clip about a vessel and the sensing means determines the presence or absence of clips in the instrument.

Claim 8

A system according to claim 1 wherein the means for supplying power to the instrument is a D.C. motor.

Claim 9

A system according to claim 8 wherein the D.C. motor is releasably connected to the instrument.

Claim 11

A system according to claim 10 wherein the means for rotating said rotatable shaft is a D.C. motor.

Claim 12

A system according to Claim 11 wherein the D.C. motor is releasably connected to the instrument.

Claim 13

A system according to Claim 10 wherein said instrument is a cutting and stapling instrument and said head portion comprises a staple holding member and an anvil member pivotally connected at one of said staple holding member.

Claim 14

A system according to Claim 13 wherein the means for rotating said rotatable shaft is a D.C. motor.

Claim 15

A system according to Claim 14 wherein the D.C. motor is releasably connected to the instrument.

Claim 16

A system according to Claim 16 wherein said instrument is a cutting and stapling instrument, said head portion comprises a staple holding member and an anvil member pivotally connected at one end of said staple holding member, the means for rotating the rotatable shaft is a D.C. motor and the sensing means is disposed in the head portion of the instrument to detect at least one property of tissue placed between said head portion and said anvil portion.

Claim 17

A system according to claim 12 which includes sensing means disposed in said head portion for detecting the presence or absence of staples in said staple holding member.

Claim 18

An endoscopic instrument comprising: a head portion for carrying out a step in an endoscopic procedure, a shaft connected to said head portion, means for applying a motion to said shaft, means disposed in said head portion for translating the motion applied to the shaft into a suitable force and/or motion of the head portion to carry out the step in the procedure, sensing means disposed in said head portion to measure a motion; and means interconnected with said sensing means to allow control of the force and/or motion of the head portion.

Claim 19

An instrument according to Claim 18 wherein the means for applying motion to the shaft is a D.C. motor.

Claim 20

An instrument according to Claim 19 wherein the D.C. motor is releasably connected to the instrument.

Claim 21

An instrument according to Claim 18 wherein the instrument is a clip applier for applying a multiplicity of ligating clips to vessels to close the vessels.

Claim 22

An instrument according to Claim 21 wherein the head portion comprises a pair of opposing jaws for holding a ligating clip and the sensing means disposed in said head portion detects when the jaws are open or closed.

Claim 23

An instrument according to Claim 21 wherein the head portion comprises a pair of opposing jaws for holding a ligating clip and the sensing means disposed in said head portion detects whether or not there is a clip in said jaws.

Claim 24

A stapling instrument for use in an endoscopic procedure comprising: a head portion, a handle portion and a connecting portion connecting said head portion to said handle portion; said head portion comprising means for holding a cartridge of staples, firing means for ejecting staples from said cartridge and anvil means to form said staples, said anvil means being disposed in relationship to said cartridge holding means to allow tissue to be disposed between said cartridge and said anvil means; a rotatable shaft disposed in said connecting portion; converting means disposed at one end of said rotatable shaft and connecting said firing means to said shaft to convert the motion of the shaft into a force to eject said staples from the cartridge and form said staples in the tissue, means disposed at the other end of said rotatable shaft for rotating said shaft, a first sensing means disposed in said head portion for detecting a physical property of the tissue placed between said cartridge and said anvil means, a second sensing means for determining the force required to eject and form the staples; and control means interconnected to both said first and second sensing means to control the ejection and formation of the staples.

Claim 25

A stapling instrument according to Claim 24 wherein the anvil means is pivotally connected to the means for holding a cartridge of staples at one end thereof.

Claim 26

A stapling instrument according to Claim 24 wherein the cartridge of staples contains at least 2 parallel rows of staples.

Claim 27

A stapling instrument according to Claim 26 wherein the head portion includes cutting means reciprocally movable between 2 rows of staples.

Claim 28

A stapling instrument according to claim 24 which includes a third sensing means disposed in said instrument for measuring a physical property of the instrument.

Claim 29

A stapling instrument according to claim 24 wherein the anvil means is pivotally connected to the means for holding a cartridge of staples at one end thereof, the cartridge of staples contains at lest two parallel rows of staples, the head portion includes cutting means, said cutting means comprising a knife which is movable between adjacent rows of staples and the converting means also converts the motion of the shaft into a force to move said knife.

Claim 30

A stapling instrument according to Claim 29 which includes a third sensing means disposed in said instrument for determining the position of the knife.

Claim 31

A stapling instrument according to Claim 24 wherein the firing means is a D.C. motor.

Claim 32

A stapling instrument according to Claim 31 wherein the D.C. motor is releasably attached to the instrument.