Patent ID: 11871983
Assignee: COVIDIEN LP
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 12:
13. A surgical system, comprising:
a housing;
a shaft extending distally from the housing;
an end effector disposed at a distal end portion of the shaft, the end effector movable between an open position and a closed position for grasping tissue and applying a force to the grasped tissue;
an actuation assembly, including:
an actuator coupled to the housing;
a drive rod coupled to end effector such that translation of the drive rod transitions the end effector between the open position and the closed position to grasp the tissue and apply the force to the grasped tissue; and
a force-regulating spring disposed within the housing and operably coupled between the actuator and the drive rod, the force-regulating spring positioned about the drive rod, the force-regulating spring configured to regulate the force applied to tissue; and

a sensor module disposed within the housing and configured to sense a property a change in inductance of the actuation assembly to determine the force applied to the grasped tissue based upon the sensed property and relay to a processor an amount of the sensed change,
wherein the processor associates the amount of sensed change in inductance with a known clamping force being applied on tissue by the first and second jaw members in the closed position.