Patent ID: 7918377

Claim:
A surgical stapling instrument for applying one or more surgical staples tissue, comprising: a handle assembly; a shaft assembly coupled to said handle assembly and movably supporting a trocar assembly therein; a stapling head assembly operably coupled to said shaft assembly, said stapling head assembly comprising: a staple cartridge for supporting one or more surgical staples; a staple driver for engaging and driving the staples from said staple cartridge; and a knife movable supported in said stapling head assembly; a drive system for applying drive motions to said staple driver and said knife; an anvil removably attachable to a distal end of said trocar assembly; and an anvil feedback system operably communicating with said trocar assembly for providing an indication signal when said anvil is attached to said distal end of said trocar assembly, said anvil feedback system comprising at least one sensor on one of said distal end of said trocar assembly and said anvil, said at least one sensor communicating with an indicator on said surgical stapling instrument to provide an indication signal thereto.