IP Library Granted Patent US 12667431
Granted Patent B2
US 12667431 · App. 17/156,300 · Granted Jun 30, 2026

Situation adaptable surgical instrument control

Inventors: Frederick E. Shelton, IV (Hillsboro, OH); Jason L. Harris (Lebanon, OH); Kevin M. Fiebig (Cincinnati, OH)
Assignee: Cilag GmbH International
A61B34/25A61B90/08G16H40/20G16H40/60A61B2034/252A61B2090/0807
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12667431
App. No.
17/156,300
Granted
Jun 30, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A surgical computing system and/or a surgical instrument may determine situational awareness about a surgical procedure based on information provided by one or more sensors and dynamically adapt operation and/or control of surgical instruments and/or communication of information to healthcare professionals based on the determined situational awareness. Situational awareness may include, for example, an importance level (e.g., a stress level or attention) of a health care provider, possession of a controllable surgical instrument by a health care provider, and/or body positioning of a health care provider. Situational awareness may be determined based on information provided by one or more personnel (e.g., wearable) sensing systems, environmental sensing systems, and/or surgical instruments, such as one or more of healthcare provider data (e.g., position, posture, balance, motion, attention, physiologic states), environmental data (e.g., operating room noise level, patient data, healthcare provider data), and/or surgical instrument data (e.g., position, motion, possession, and/or usage).

Claims (33)

1 . A surgical computing system comprising:

a processor configured to:

receive biomarker data from one or more sensing systems, the biomarker data associated with a healthcare professional operating a surgical instrument during a surgical procedure in an operating room;

determine, based at least in part on the biomarker data, an importance level associated with a task during the surgical procedure;

receive usage data associated with user inputs to the surgical instrument;

receive environmental data from one or more environmental sensing systems, the environmental data associated with environmental characteristics in the operating room;

determine, based at least in part on the biomarker data, usage data, and environmental data, an evaluation of body positioning of the healthcare professional and positioning of the surgical instrument, the evaluation of body positioning of the healthcare professional and positioning of the surgical instrument indicating the surgical instrument is at a limit of an arm reach of the healthcare professional;

determine, based on the evaluation of the body positioning of the healthcare professional and positioning of the surgical instrument indicating the surgical instrument is at a limit of an arm reach of the healthcare professional, one or more operational parameters for the surgical instrument, the one or more operational parameters comprising adjusted activation limits and deactivation limits of the surgical instrument; and

communicate the one or more operational parameters to the surgical instrument, causing the adjusted activation limits and deactivation limits to be implemented in the surgical instrument.

2 . The surgical computing system of claim 1 ,

wherein the biomarker data is associated with one or more of heart rate, blood pressure, sweat, physical activity, body movement, or eye movement.

3 . The surgical computing system of claim 1 ,

wherein the processor configured to determine an importance level is configured to determine an importance level based at least in part on the environmental data and the biomarker data.

4 . The surgical computing system of claim 3 ,

wherein the environmental data is associated with one or more of noise level, healthcare professional attention location, or patient biomarkers.

5 . The surgical computing system of claim 3 ,

wherein the processor configured to determine an importance level is configured to determine an importance level based at least in part on the environmental data, the biomarker data, and data associated with steps of surgical procedures.

6 . The surgical computing system of claim 5 ,

wherein the processor configured to determine an importance level based at least in part on the environmental data, the biomarker data, and data associated with steps of surgical procedures is configured to determine for a step in a surgical procedure whether the biomarker data is within an expected range.

7 . The surgical computing system of claim 6 ,

wherein the processor is further configured to:

if the biomarker data is outside the expected range, determine to modify the one or more operational parameters.

8 . The surgical computing system of claim 3 ,

wherein the environmental data comprises data associated with eye tracking of the healthcare professional.

9 . The surgical computing system of claim 8 ,

wherein the data associated with eye tracking of the healthcare professional comprises data associated with at least one of location of attention or time of attention.

10 . The surgical computing system of claim 8 ,

wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine a task associated with attention of the healthcare professional; and

determine based on the task operational parameters for the surgical instrument.

11 . The surgical computing system of claim 1 ,

wherein the evaluation of body positioning of the healthcare professional comprises an evaluation of at least one of posture or balance, and

wherein the one or more operational parameters comprise parameters associated with at least one of: controls of the surgical instrument; stoke trigger points; an activation limit or a deactivation limit; or activating secondary controls.