Surgical instrument with rapid post event detection
A surgical instrument is disclosed, the instrument including: a handle assembly; a jaw assembly including a staple cartridge containing a plurality of staples and an anvil to form the plurality of staples upon firing; a lockout mechanism configured to prevent reuse of the jaw assembly; a drive assembly at least partially located within the handle and connected to the jaw assembly; a motor operatively coupled to the drive assembly; and a controller operatively coupled to the motor, the controller configured to control supply of electrical current to the motor and to monitor a current draw of the motor, wherein the controller is further configured to terminate the supply of electrical current to the motor in response to a drop in the current draw.
1. A surgical instrument, comprising:
a handle assembly;
a jaw assembly comprising a staple cartridge containing a plurality of staples and an anvil to form the plurality of staples upon firing;
a lockout mechanism configured to prevent reuse of the jaw assembly;
a drive assembly at least partially located within the handle and connected to the jaw assembly and the lockout mechanism;
a motor operatively coupled to the drive assembly; and
a controller operatively coupled to the motor, the controller configured to control supply of electrical current to the motor and to monitor a current draw of the motor, wherein the controller is further configured to terminate the supply of electrical current to the motor in response to a drop in the current draw indicative of a failure of the lockout mechanism.
2. The surgical instrument according to claim 1 , wherein the jaw assembly comprises a drive beam coupled to the lockout mechanism, the lockout mechanism configured to transition between an unlocked state and a locked state upon distal movement of the drive beam.
3. The surgical instrument according to claim 2 , wherein the drop in the current draw corresponds to a failure of the lockout mechanism to transition into the locked state upon retraction of the drive beam.
4. The surgical instrument according to claim 3 , wherein the lockout mechanism comprises a locking member pivotal between an unlocked position and a locked position.
5. The surgical instrument according to claim 4 , wherein the jaw assembly further comprises a housing defining a projection mounted therein configured to engage the locking member upon retraction of the drive beam.
6. A surgical instrument, comprising:
a handle assembly;
a disposable end effector removably coupled to the handle assembly, the disposable end effector comprising a jaw assembly including a staple cartridge containing a plurality of staples and an anvil to form the plurality of staples upon firing;
a drive assembly at least partially located within the handle and connected to the jaw assembly, the drive assembly comprising a lockout mechanism;
a motor operatively coupled to the drive assembly;
a drive circuit coupled to the motor and configured to measure a current draw of the motor; and
a controller operatively coupled to the motor, the controller configured to terminate the supply of electrical current to the motor in response to a drop in the current draw indicative of a failure of the lockout mechanism.
7. The surgical instrument according to claim 6 , wherein the controller is further configured to store a fault state in a memory in response to the drop in the current draw.
8. The surgical instrument according to claim 7 , wherein the fault state is cleared after the disposable end effector is removed from the handle assembly.
9. The surgical instrument according to claim 6 , wherein the controller is configured to detect the drop in the current draw based on a rate of change of the current draw.
10. The surgical instrument according to claim 6 , wherein the jaw assembly comprises a drive beam coupled to the lockout mechanism.
11. The surgical instrument according to claim 10 , the lockout mechanism configured to transition between an unlocked state and a locked state upon distal movement of the drive beam.
12. The surgical instrument according to claim 11 , wherein the drop in the current draw corresponds to a failure of the lockout mechanism to transition into the locked state upon retraction of the drive beam.
13. The surgical instrument according to claim 12 , wherein the lockout mechanism comprises a locking member pivotal between an unlocked position and a locked position.
14. The surgical instrument according to claim 13 , wherein the jaw assembly further comprises a housing defining a projection mounted therein configured to engage the locking member upon retraction of the drive beam.
15. The surgical instrument according to claim 6 , further comprising a control assembly coupled to the controller, wherein the controller disregards user inputs in response to the drop in the current draw.
16. A method for controlling a surgical instrument, the method comprising:
activating a motor operatively coupled to a disposable end effector, the disposable end effector comprising:
a drive beam coupled to a jaw assembly comprising a staple cartridge containing a plurality of staples and an anvil to form the plurality of staples upon firing; and
a lockout mechanism coupled to the drive beam and configured to transition from an unlocked state to a locked state upon retraction of the drive beam;
measuring a current draw of the motor; and
terminating supply of electric current to the motor in response to a drop off of the current draw indicative of a failure of the lockout mechanism.
17. The method according to claim 16 , further comprising:
storing a fault state in a memory in response to the drop in the current draw.
18. The method according to claim 17 , further comprising:
clearing the fault state after the disposable end effector is removed from the handle assembly.