SURGICAL INSTRUMENT WITH DETECTION SENSORS

• US 20170296178A1
• Filed: 04/15/2016
• Published: 10/19/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/15/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cilag Gmbh International (Johnson & Johnson)
• Original Assignee: Ethicon Endo-Surgery LLC (Johnson & Johnson)
• Inventors: Miller, Christopher C., Cummings, John F., Yates, David C., Shelton, IV, Frederick E., Harris, Jason L.
• Granted Patent: US 10,426,467 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/0686 having a forming anvil staying below the tissue during stapling
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/07207 the staples being applied sequentially
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00017 Electrical control of surgical instruments
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00022 Sensing or detecting at the treatment site
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00026 Conductivity or impedance, e.g. of tissue
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00039 Electric or electromagnetic phenomena other than conductivity, e.g. capacity, inductivity, Hall effect
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00057 Light
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00061 spectrum
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00066 intensity
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00075 Motion
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00115 with audible or visual output with imaging means A61B90/37, A61B34/20
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00119 alarm; indicating an abnormal situation
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00123 and automatic shutdown
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00132 Setting operation time of a device A61B2017/00123 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00199 with a console, e.g. a control panel with a display
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00398 using powered actuators, e.g. stepper motors, solenoids
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0046 with a releasable handle; with handle and operating part separable for prosthetic joint-implanting tools A61F2/4603
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00725 Calibration or performance testing
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00734 battery operated
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/07257 characterised by its anvil
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/07271 : characterised by its cartridge
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/07285 : characterised by its cutter
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/2927 : the angular position of the head being adjustable with respect to the shaft
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/061 : for measuring dimensions, e.g. length
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/064 : for measuring force, pressure or mechanical tension
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/065 : for measuring contact or contact pressure
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/0803 : Counting the number of times an instrument is used
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/0807 : Indication means
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/0808 : for indicating correct assembly of components, e.g. of the surgical apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/0811 : for the position of a particular part of an instrument with respect to the rest of the instrument, e.g. position of the anvil of a stapling instrument
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/304 : using chemi-luminescent materials
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/309 : using white LEDs
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0219 : Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0223 : Magnetic field sensors
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0233 : Special features of optical sensors or probes classified in A61B5/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0247 : Pressure sensors
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0261 : Strain gauges
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0053 : by applying pressure, e.g. compression, indentation, palpation, grasping, gauging
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0059 : using light, e.g. diagnosis by transillumination, diascopy, fluorescence A61B5/0093, A61B5/1455, A61B5/02416 and A61B5/0261 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02007 : Evaluating blood vessel condition, e.g. elasticity, compliance
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0261 : using optical means, e.g. infrared light
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/05 : Detecting, measuring or recording for diagnosis by means of electric currents or magnetic fields; Measuring using microwaves or radio waves impedance plethysmography A61B5/0295; measuring movement of the entire body or parts thereof A61B5/11; detecting, measuring or recording bioelectric or biomagnetic signals of the body or parts thereof A61B5/24
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/053 : Measuring electrical impedance or conductance of a portion of the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4869 : Determining body composition
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7203 : for noise prevention, reduction or removal

Abstract

Aspects of the present disclosure are presented for a surgical instrument having one or more sensors at or a near an end effector and configured to aide in the detection of tissues and other materials and structures at a surgical site. The detections may then be used to aide in the placement of the end effector and to confirm which objects to operate on, or alternatively, to avoid. Examples of sensors include laser sensors used to employ Doppler shift principles to detect movement of objects at the surgical site, such as blood cells; resistance sensors to detect the presence of metal; monochromatic light sources that allow for different levels of absorption from different types of substances present at the surgical site, and near infrared spectrometers with small form factors.

Claims

1. A surgical instrument comprising:

a handle assembly;

a shaft coupled to the handle assembly;

an end effector communicatively coupled to the handle assembly through the shaft and comprising a first and second jaw, the handle assembly configured to manipulate the first and second jaws to define an open position and a closed position; and

a sensor apparatus at a distal end of the shaft comprising at least one sensor configured to transmit sensor signals onto patient tissue at a surgical site and at least one receiver configured to receive sensor data of the patient tissue based on the transmission of the sensor signals.

2. The surgical instrument of claim 1, further comprising a processor configured to access the sensor data and cause display of a textual or graphical analysis of patient tissue based on the sensor data.

3. The surgical instrument of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor comprises a laser sensor and the sensor signals comprise laser light.

4. The surgical instrument of claim 3, wherein the sensor data comprises a measure of intensity of the laser light based on an incidence of refraction of the laser light onto the patient tissue.

5. The surgical instrument of claim 3, wherein the sensor signals comprise first and second pulses of laser light transmitted to the patient tissue, the first and second pulses transmitted at first and second times, respectively;

and the sensor data comprises a first timing measurement based on refraction of the first pulse and a second timing measurement based on refraction of the second pulse.

6. The surgical instrument of claim 5, further comprising a processor configured to access the first and second timing measurements and compute a timing difference between the two measurements.

7. The surgical instrument of claim 6, wherein the sensor apparatus is further configured to transmit a laser light signal having a repeating response pattern based on a magnitude of the timing difference computed between the first and second timing measurements.

8. The surgical instrument of claim 5, wherein the second timing measurement is based further on a compression of the patient tissue by the first and second jaws that causes the patient tissue to dilate at a location of measurement by the second pulse.

9. The surgical instrument of claim 1, wherein the wherein the at least one sensor comprises a near infrared spectrometer sensor and the sensor signals comprise a multi-spectrum array of light in the visible spectrum.

10. The surgical instrument of claim 9, wherein the sensor data comprises spectrometer readings of the multi-spectrum array shone onto the patient tissue.

11. The surgical instrument of claim 10, further comprising a processor configured to access the sensor data and provide an analysis of physical and/or chemical composition of the patient tissue based on the spectrometer readings.

12. The surgical instrument of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured determine abnormal proportions of chemical concentrations in the patient tissue based on the spectrometer readings.

13. The surgical instrument of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor comprises a light emitting diode (LED) and the sensor signals comprise a collimated beam of monochromatic light emitted from the LED.

14. The surgical instrument of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor comprises a thermography sensor and the sensor signals comprise infrared data of the patient tissue expressed in a two dimensional array.

15. The surgical instrument of claim 1, wherein the end effector further comprises a resistance sensor configured to measure a level of electrical resistance between the first jaw and the second jaw.

16. A surgical system comprising:

a surgical instrument comprising;

a handle assembly;

a shaft coupled to the handle assembly;

an end effector communicatively coupled to the handle assembly through the shaft and comprising a first and second jaw, the handle assembly configured to manipulate the first and second jaws to define an open position and a closed position; and

a sensor apparatus at a distal end of the shaft comprising at least one sensor configured to transmit sensor signals onto patient tissue at a surgical site and at least one receiver configured to receive sensor data of the patient tissue based on the transmission of the sensor signals; and

a graphical display communicatively coupled to the surgical instrument and configured to display graphical representations of the sensor data of the patient tissue.

17. The surgical system of claim 16, further comprising a processor configured to access the sensor data and cause display of a textual or graphical analysis of patient tissue based on the sensor data.

18. The surgical system of claim 16, wherein the at least one sensor comprises a laser sensor and the sensor signals comprise laser light.

19. The surgical system of claim 18, wherein the sensor data comprises a measure of intensity of the laser light based on an incidence of refraction of the laser light onto the patient tissue.

20. A computer readable medium having no transitory signals comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

accessing sensor data of patient tissue derived from transmission of sensor signals onto the patient tissue;

the sensor signals transmitted by a sensor apparatus of a surgical instrument;

determine a physical or chemical composition of the patient tissue based on the sensor data; and

cause display of a graphical representation of the sensor data of the patient tissue.