Patent ID: 8459522

Claim:
A medical instrument, comprising: a housing having a fixed handle; a movable handle operably connected to the housing and movable relative to the fixed handle; an elongated member including at least a fastener firing assembly, the elongated member having a distal end and a proximal end; a drive assembly including at least a motor and operably coupled to the proximal end of the elongated member; an end effector operably coupled to the distal end of the elongated member; and a switch assembly mounted to the fixed handle, the switch assembly including a switch handle pivotally coupled to the fixed handle, the switch handle being biased by a spring disposed between the switch handle and the fixed handle; wherein the motor is configured to be actuated by a controller to variably control a rate at which the motor actuates the end effector and a rate at which the motor is actuated is variably controlled in response to longitudinal motion applied to the fastener firing assembly.