Patent ID: 7837080

Claim:
A surgical stapling instrument for applying one or more surgical staples to tissue, comprising: a handle assembly; a stapling head assembly operably coupled to said handle assembly by a shaft assembly, said stapling head assembly comprising: a staple cartridge for supporting one or more surgical staples; an anvil for clamping the tissue against said staple cartridge; a staple driver assembly for engaging and driving the staples from said staple cartridge into the tissue and against said anvil; and a knife movably supported in said stapling head assembly for cutting through the clamped tissue; a drive system for applying drive motions to said staple driver assembly and said knife; and a knife board supported in said anvil, said knife board supporting at least one sensor configured to transmit a signal to an indicator when said knife has cut through said clamped tissue and including a wall portion configured to be cut by said knife after cutting through said clamped tissue such that at least an audio signal or tactile signal is generated by said knife cutting through said knife board.