Patent ID: 9295468
Filing Date: 2016-03-29
CPC Classification: A61B

Claim Text:
1. A surgical instrument, comprising: an end effector including a staple cartridge assembly and an anvil operatively associated with the staple cartridge assembly; and at least one micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) device operatively connected to the end effector; wherein the at least one MEMS device includes (i) a light producing device, and (ii) a light receiving device, the light receiving device configured to detect changes in an amount of light received as a result of a changing a distance between the anvil and the staple cartridge assembly; and wherein the at least one MEMS device is configured to determine tissue thickness and a distance between the anvil and the staple cartridge assembly by timing a duration between initial light reception by the light receiving device and activation of the light producing device.