Surgical instrument comprising a flex circuit including a sensor system

1. A surgical instrument, comprising:

a housing;

a shaft extending from said housing;

an end effector extending from said shaft;

a drive system; and

a flexible circuit assembly extending within said shaft, wherein said flexible circuit assembly comprises a power transmission backbone and a signal communication backbone, and wherein said signal communication backbone is separated from said power transmission backbone.

2. The surgical instrument of claim 1 , wherein said communication backbone comprises communication circuits in communication with a multiplexer.

3. The surgical instrument of claim 1 , wherein said flexible circuit assembly comprises:

a first region;

a second region, wherein said first region and said second region are different;

a first circuit in communication with said first region;

a second circuit in communication with said second region, and

a voltage control circuit configured to limit the voltage to said first region while providing a different voltage to said second region.

4. The surgical instrument of claim 3 , wherein said first region comprises a first sensor in communication with said first circuit, and wherein said second region comprises a second sensor in communication with said second circuit.

5. The surgical instrument of claim 4 , wherein said first sensor is configured to detect a first component of said drive system and said second sensor is configured to detect a second component of said drive system.

6. The surgical instrument of claim 4 , wherein the voltage provided to said first region is 6 volts and the voltage provided to said second region is 12 volts.

7. The surgical instrument of claim 1 , wherein said flexible circuit assembly comprises:

a first region;

a second region, wherein said first region and said second region are different;

a first circuit in communication with said first region;

a second circuit in communication with said second region, and

a controller configured to limit the quantity of data transmitted via said first circuit during a first operating mode and to increase the quantity of data transmitted via said first circuit during a second operating mode.

8. The surgical instrument of claim 7 , wherein said first region comprises a first sensor in communication with said first circuit, and wherein said second region comprises a second sensor in communication with said second circuit.

9. The surgical instrument of claim 8 , wherein said first sensor is configured to detect a first component of said drive system and said second sensor is configured to detect a second component of said drive system.