Patent ID: 8790243

Claim:
A minimally invasive surgical instrument comprising: an elongate shaft having a working end, a proximal end, and a shaft axis between the working end and the proximal end; an end effector; a wrist member having a flexible tube including an axis extending through an interior surrounded by a wall, the wall of the flexible tube including a plurality of lumens oriented generally parallel to the axis of the flexible tube, the wrist member having a proximal portion connected to the working end of the elongate shaft and a distal portion connected to the end effector; and a plurality of actuation cables having distal portions connected to the end effector and extending from the distal portion through the lumens of the wall of the wrist member toward the elongate shaft to proximal portions which are actuatable to bend the wrist member in pitch rotation and yaw rotation; wherein the flexible tube comprises an inner diameter and an outer diameter, the wall of the flexible tube including a plurality of slots adjacent the inner diameter to form the lumens at the slots.