Surgical instrument with wireless communication between control unit and sensor transponders

1. A surgical instrument comprising:

a control unit disposed in a portion of the surgical instrument, the control unit comprising a first inductive element, wherein the first inductive element is configured to produce a magnetic field;

a shaft connected to the portion of the surgical instrument in which the control unit is disposed; and

an end effector connected to the shaft, the end effector comprising a fireable cartridge and an electronic component that comprises:

a sensor for sensing a state of the cartridge;

electronic circuitry connected to the sensor; and

a second inductive element that is inductively coupled to the first inductive element of the control unit, wherein:

the second inductive element is connected to the electronic circuitry of the electronic component such that the magnetic field produced by the first inductive element of the control unit powers the electronic circuitry of the electronic component via electromagnetic induction;

the shaft electrically couples the first inductive element to the second inductive element to power the electronic circuitry;

the control unit is configured to interrogate the electronic circuitry via an interrogation signal transmitted from the first inductive element to the second inductive element, wherein the electronic circuitry is configured to wirelessly report the state of the cartridge to the control unit via a reply signal transmitted from the second inductive element to the first inductive element when the electronic circuitry is interrogated by the control unit; and

the control unit is configured to receive the reply signal from the electronic circuitry in response to the interrogation and control actuation of the end effector based on the sensed state of the cartridge from the sensor such that the control unit prevents actuation of the end effector when the cartridge is determined to be in a fired state and permits actuation of the end effector when the cartridge is determined to be in a unfired state.

2. The surgical instrument of claim 1 , wherein:

the control unit is disposed in a handle of the surgical instrument; and

wherein the shaft comprises a distal end and a proximate end, and wherein the handle is connected to the proximate end of the shaft and the end effector is connected to the distal end of the shaft.

3. The surgical instrument of claim 2 , wherein the first inductive element of the control unit is located at the distal end of the shaft.

4. The surgical instrument of claim 2 , wherein the first inductive element of the control unit is located in the handle and is inductively coupled to the second inductive element of the end effector via one or more intermediary inductive elements located in the shaft.

5. The surgical instrument of claim 1 , wherein the fireable cartridge is a removable cartridge, wherein the end effector comprises the removable cartridge, and wherein the removable cartridge comprises the electronic component.

6. The surgical instrument of claim 5 , wherein the removable cartridge comprises a removable staple cartridge.

7. The surgical instrument of claim 6 , wherein the end effector further comprises:

a cutting instrument;

a longitudinally extending channel to removably seat the removable cartridge; and

an anvil pivotally attached to the channel, wherein the anvil and the channel are configured to clamp tissue therebetween when the end effector is in a closed position; and

wherein the cutting instrument is configured to move longitudinally within the channel to cut the tissue clamped between the anvil and the channel when the end effector is actuated.

8. The surgical instrument of claim 7 , wherein the control unit comprises programmable circuitry configured to transmit wireless signals to, and configured to receive wireless signals from, the electronic component of the end effector.

9. The surgical instrument of claim 8 , wherein the programmable circuitry is programmed to transmit a first wireless signal to the electronic component of the end effector and determine an electronic state of the electronic component based on receipt or non-receipt of a second wireless signal from the electronic component by the control unit in response to the transmission of the first wireless signal.

10. The surgical instrument of claim 1 , wherein the sensor comprises a fuse.

11. The surgical instrument of claim 9 , wherein a first electronic state of the electronic component corresponds to the unfired state of the staple cartridge and a second electronic state of the electronic component corresponds to the fired state of the staple cartridge.

12. The surgical instrument of claim 9 , wherein the control unit is programmed to determine the unfired state based on receipt of a second wireless signal by the control unit, and wherein the control unit is programmed to determine the fired state based on nonreceipt of the second wireless signal by the control unit.

13. The surgical instrument of claim 1 , wherein the end effector comprises at least one additional sensor that is selected from the group consisting of: a position sensor; a displacement sensor; a pressure sensor; and a proximity sensor.

14. The surgical instrument of claim 9 , wherein the programmable circuitry of the control unit is programmed to track a number of times the end effector is actuated and prevent actuation of the end effector when the number of times the end effector has been actuated exceeds a limit.