MODULAR BATTERY POWERED HANDHELD SURGICAL INSTRUMENT WITH A PLURALITY OF CONTROL PROGRAMS

1 . A battery powered modular surgical instrument, comprising:

a control handle assembly comprising a processor coupled to a first memory device;

a shaft assembly having a proximal end operably coupled to the control handle assembly and detachable from the control handle assembly, wherein the shaft assembly comprises a plurality of circuit modules and a second memory device, wherein a plurality of control programs is configured to operate the plurality of circuit modules, wherein each of the plurality of control programs comprises computer executable instructions;

a transducer assembly operably coupled to the control handle assembly and detachable from the control handle assembly, wherein the transducer assembly comprises a third memory device and comprises a transducer that is configured to convert a drive signal to mechanical vibrations, wherein the plurality of control programs is configured to control the conversion of the drive signal to mechanical vibrations; and

a battery assembly operably coupled to the control handle assembly and detachable from the control handle assembly, wherein the battery assembly comprises a fourth memory device and the battery assembly is configured to power the modular surgical instrument.

2 . The surgical instrument of claim 1 , wherein the processor comprises a primary controller and a safety controller.

3 . The surgical instrument of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of control programs is stored according to a predetermined distribution between the first memory device, second memory device, third memory device, or fourth memory device.

4 . The surgical instrument of claim 3 , wherein the first memory device, second memory device, third memory device, or fourth memory device is a nonvolatile memory device storing at least one control program of the plurality of control programs, wherein the processor is configured to download the at least one control program to a volatile memory device located in the control handle assembly, shaft assembly, transducer assembly, or battery assembly.

5 . The surgical instrument of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to select at least one of the plurality of control programs based on a look-up table.

6 . The surgical instrument of claim 5 , wherein the look-up table comprises an indication that the selected at least one of the plurality of control programs corresponds to at least one of the shaft assembly or the transducer assembly.

7 . The surgical instrument of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of control programs comprises any one of a component identification program, a usage counter program, a real-time operating system (RTOS) program, an energy update program, and/or a motor control program.

8 . The surgical instrument of claim 7 , further comprising:

an end effector coupled to a distal end of the shaft assembly;

a motor positioned in the control handle assembly and configured to operate the end effector, wherein the motor control program is configured to control the operations of the motor.

9 . The surgical instrument of claim 1 , wherein the processor is a first processor, wherein one of the shaft assembly, transducer assembly or battery assembly comprises a second processor.

10 . A method to operate a battery powered modular surgical instrument, comprising:

a control handle assembly comprising a processor coupled to a first memory device,

a shaft assembly having a proximal end operably coupled to the control handle assembly and detachable from the control handle assembly, wherein the shaft assembly comprises a plurality of circuit modules and a second memory device, wherein a plurality of control programs is configured to operate the plurality of circuit modules, wherein each of the plurality of control programs comprises computer executable instructions,

a transducer assembly operably coupled to the control handle assembly and detachable from the control handle assembly, wherein the transducer assembly comprises a third memory device and comprises a transducer that is configured to convert a drive signal to mechanical vibrations, wherein at least one of the plurality of control programs is configured to control the conversion of the drive signal to mechanical vibrations, and

a battery assembly operably coupled to the control handle assembly and detachable from the control handle assembly, wherein the battery assembly comprises a fourth memory device and the battery assembly is configured to power the modular surgical instrument, wherein the method comprises:

identifying, by the processor, the plurality of control programs;

selecting, by the processor, at least one of the plurality of control programs; and

executing, by the processor, at least one of the plurality of control programs.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the processor comprises a primary controller and a safety controller, the method further comprising executing at least one of the plurality of control programs by the primary controller and the safety controller.

12 . The method of claim 10 , comprising storing, by the processor, the plurality of control programs according to a predetermined distribution between the first memory device, second memory device, third memory device, or fourth memory device.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the first memory device, second memory device, third memory device, or fourth memory device is a nonvolatile memory device storing at least one control program of the plurality of control programs, the method further comprising:

downloading, by the processor, the at least one control program to a volatile memory device located in the control handle assembly, shaft assembly, transducer assembly, or battery assembly.

14 . The method of claim 13 , comprising:

identifying, by the processor, a modular variant of one or more of the shaft assembly or transducer assembly;

selecting, by the processor, the at least one control program based on determining that the at least one control program corresponds to the identified modular variant based on a look-up table.

15 . A method to operate a battery powered modular surgical instrument, comprising:

a control handle assembly comprising a processor coupled to a first memory device,

a shaft assembly detached from the control handle assembly, wherein the shaft assembly comprises a plurality of circuit modules and a second memory device, wherein a plurality of control programs is configured to operate the plurality of circuit modules, wherein the plurality of control programs is stored in the first memory device, wherein each of the plurality of control programs comprises computer executable instructions,

a transducer assembly detached from the control handle assembly, wherein the transducer assembly comprises a third memory device and comprises a transducer that is configured to convert a drive signal to mechanical vibrations, wherein at least one of the plurality of control programs is configured to control the conversion of the drive signal to mechanical vibrations, and

a battery assembly detached from the control handle assembly, wherein the battery assembly comprises a fourth memory device and the battery assembly is configured to power the modular surgical instrument,

wherein the method comprises:

attaching, by a user of the surgical instrument, a proximal end of the shaft assembly to the control handle assembly to operably couple the shaft assembly to the control handle assembly;

attaching, by the user of the surgical instrument, the transducer assembly to a distal end of the shaft assembly to operably couple the transducer assembly to the control handle assembly;

attaching, by the user of the surgical instrument, the battery assembly to the control handle assembly to operably couple the battery assembly to the control handle assembly;

selecting, by the processor, at least one of the plurality of control programs based on a look-up table; and

executing, by the processor, the at least one of the plurality of control programs.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of control programs is a first plurality of control programs, the method further comprising:

determining, by the processor, that a second plurality of control programs is stored according to a predetermined distribution between the second memory device, third memory device, or fourth memory device;

uploading, by the processor, at least one of second plurality of control programs to the first memory device.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the at least one second plurality of control programs is an updated version of at least one of the first plurality of control programs, the method further comprising:

deleting, by the processor, at least one of the first plurality of control programs from the first memory device.

18 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of control programs is a first plurality of control programs, wherein the first plurality of control programs comprises a motor control program and a switch program, the method further comprising:

identifying, by the processor, a second plurality of control programs stored in the second memory device;

identifying, by the processor, a third plurality of control programs stored in the third memory device;

identifying, by the processor, a fourth plurality of control programs stored in the fourth memory device.

19 . The method of claim 18 , comprising:

writing, by the processor, shaft assembly usage data to the second memory device based on executing, by the processor, at least one of the second plurality of control programs;

writing, by the processor, transducer assembly usage data to the third memory device based on executing, by the processor, at least one of the third plurality of control programs;

writing, by the processor, battery assembly usage data to the fourth memory device based on executing, by the processor, at least one of the fourth plurality of control programs.

20 . The method of claim 15 , comprising:

writing, by the processor, usage data to the first memory device based on executing, by the processor, at least one of the second plurality of control programs.