Patent ID: 8241320

Claim:
An articulated surgical instrument comprising: a handle; an actuating assembly associated with the handle; a shaft including a proximal end, a deflectable portion and an end effector, the proximal end of the shaft being coupled to the handle; and one or more deflection wires, each deflection wire having a proximal portion and a distal portion, each deflection wire's distal portion being connected to the shaft, and each deflection wire's proximal portion being connected to the actuating assembly, each movement of the actuating assembly causing each deflection wire to move to thereby cause a deflection of the deflectable portion, the actuating assembly comprising one or more actuators and one or more associated slider members, each slider member being movable linearly between a first position and a second position, the proximal portion of each deflection wire being connected to an associated one of the one or more slider members, a first one of each actuator and associated slider member having a cam track and the other having a cam follower, such that movement of the actuator by a user of the instrument causes a linear movement of the associated slider member from its first position to its second position so as to move at least one of the deflection wires, thereby causing a corresponding deflection of the deflectable portion each actuator comprising a button movable linearly between a first position and a second position to move the button's associated actuator and thereby the actuator's associated slider member, the linear movement of each actuator button being in a direction orthogonal to the linear movement of the actuator's associated slider member and causing the actuator's associated slider member to move between the slider member's first and second positions.