A surgical stapling instrument comprising a housing, a shaft, an end effector, a first articulation joint configured to permit the end effector to be articulated in a first plane, a second articulation joint configured to permit the end effector to be articulated in a second plane, and a staple firing drive is disclosed. The end effector comprises a distal end, a proximal end, a first jaw, a second jaw rotatable relative to the first iaw, and a staple cartridge. The staple firing drive comprises a firing member and a flexible drive tube extending through the first articulation joint and the second articulation joint. The firing member comprises a first cam, a second cam, and a round attachment aperture. The flexible drive tube comprises a longitudinal length, an outer circumference, a distal end seated in the round attachment aperture, and interlocking cuts in the outer circumference extending longitudinally and circumferentially.

A surgical instrument comprising a controller, a staple firing system, and an RFID system is disclosed. The controller is in communication with a first RFID reader and a second RFID reader of the RFID system and the staple firing system. In various embodiments, the controller verifies the presence of the staple cartridge in the surgical instrument upon receiving the first signal from the first RFID tag. Also, in various embodiments, the controller verifies that the staple cartridge is an unfired staple cartridge upon receiving the second signal from the second RFID tag. The controller can also be configured to track the progress of the staple firing stroke through the RFID system.

A surgical stapling apparatus includes a loading unit having first and second jaw members, a drive beam, and a firing lockout assembly. The drive beam is axially movable within the loading unit during a firing sequence. The firing sequence includes an advancement stroke which moves the first and second jaw members to an approximated position and a retraction stroke which moves the first and second jaw members to an unapproximated position. The firing lockout assembly includes an iterating plate, a capture gear, and a lockout pin. The iterating plate is disposed adjacent to the drive beam and is incrementally movable proximally within the loading unit during the firing sequence. The capture gear is rotatable between first and second positions during the firing sequence and is configured to move the iterating plate. The lockout pin is configured to lock the drive beam after a pre-determined number of firing sequences.

A surgical stapler is provided that includes a spring loaded lift that automatically adjusts a staple cartridge and/or staple formation between a range of sizes. The lift is automatically released as the staple firing mechanism begins its forward translation of the firing sequence. The automatic one-way adjustment also adjusts the staple cartridge while maintaining the cartridge parallel to the anvil to provide consistent staple formations.

A medical instrument display includes an image storage that stores a plurality of image data of a medical instrument, a data analyzer that searches a plurality of image data stored in the image storage on a certain condition, and a display controller that causes a display to display a first medical instrument image that has been selected from thumbnail images, the thumbnail images being based on a plurality of the image data obtained by the search, and a second medical instrument image in good order, the second medical instrument image being different from the first medical instrument image.

A medical device including a handle body having a proximal end and a distal end, a spool on the handle body and to move between the distal end and the proximal end of the handle body, a catheter extending from the distal end of the handle body, an actuator attached to the spool and extending through the catheter, such that the actuator is removably connected to one or more dispensable devices at a distal end of the catheter, a spool controller to prevent connection with another of the dispensable devices to the actuator after a predetermined number of dispensable devices have been dispensed by the medical device.

A multi-frequency ultrasound therapy apparatus is configured to operate at its center frequency and at the higher harmonic of its center frequency. The center frequency can be for the entire apparatus or for each ultrasound source element. At least one source element can generate ultrasound energy at its center frequency while, simultaneously, at least another source element can generate ultrasound energy at the higher harmonic of its center frequency. In addition, the same source element can generate ultrasound energy at its center frequency and the higher harmonic of its center frequency, respectively, but at different times. A data storage unit that stores encrypted and encoded data is disposed on the apparatus. The encoded data includes a unique identification code of the apparatus, the condition of use of the apparatus, the center frequency of each source element, the ultrasound efficiency of each source element, and/or other parameters relating to the apparatus.

A staple cartridge for use with a surgical instrument is disclosed. The staple cartridge comprises an elongate slot, a deck surface, and a row of staple cavities. Each staple cavity comprises proximal and distal ends. The distal end is closer to the elongate slot than the proximal end. A firing member is configured to drive the staple drivers from an unfired position to a fired position. The distal end of the staple cavity is aligned with a first end of a staple driver, and the proximal end of the staple cavity is aligned with a second end of the staple driver. The first end of the staple driver extends a first distance above the deck surface and the second end of the staple driver extends a second distance above the deck surface when the staple driver is in the fired position. The first distance is different than the second distance.

A powered surgical stapling assembly comprising a motor, an end effector, a sensor, a display, and a control circuit is disclosed. The end effector comprises a first jaw and a second jaw movable relative to the first jaw. The end effector is configured to clamp tissue between the first jaw and the second jaw. The sensor is configured to measure a parameter of the tissue clamped within the end effector. The control circuit is configured to monitor the parameter sensed by the sensor and identify when the monitored parameter stabilizes within a stabilization range. The monitored parameter is considered stable when a rate at which the monitored parameter changes falls below a predetermine threshold rate of change. The control circuit is further configured to display to a user when the parameter stabilizes.

A surgical instrument comprising a first jaw and a second jaw is disclosed. At least one of the first and second jaws comprises a proximal portion and a distal tip rotatable relative to the proximal portion.