Patent ID: 8800839

Claim:
A surgical instrument for operating on tissue, comprising: a shaft including at least one frame member and at least one clamp slide member abutting the at least one frame member; an end effector including a first tissue engaging member and a second tissue engaging member, at least one of the first and second tissue engaging members movable from a first configuration for positioning tissue therebetween to a second configuration for compressing tissue; and a gap determination element including a body portion coupled to the at least one frame member and a wiper coupled to the at least one clamp slide member, the wiper displaceable in relation to the body portion and movable with the at least one clamp slide member to move the at least one movable first and second tissue engaging member from the first configuration to the second configuration, wherein movement of the wiper from the first configuration to the second configuration causes change in an electrical property of the gap determination element that is indicative of a distance between the first and second tissue engaging members, wherein the electrical property of the gap determination is at least one of capacitance, inductance, voltage, and resistance.