A surgical stapling instrument includes a shaft assembly and an end effector. The end effector includes a first jaw having an anvil, a second jaw configured to removably receive a staple cartridge, and a driving assembly translatable distally through the second jaw for pivoting the second jaw toward the first jaw to clamp tissue between the first jaw and the second jaw. The instrument also includes a lockout mechanism configured to transition between a first state in which the lockout mechanism prevents distal translation of the driving assembly through the second jaw, and a second state in which the lockout mechanism permits distal translation of the driving assembly through the second jaw. The lockout mechanism is configured to transition from the first state to the second state when the staple cartridge is removably received by the second jaw.

A surgical stapling instrument includes a shaft assembly, an end effector, and a flexible firing member. The end effector includes a driving assembly translatable distally relative to a first jaw and a second jaw to thereby transition the first and second jaws from an open state to a closed state. The flexible firing member is configured to selectively advance the driving assembly distally and retract the driving assembly proximally. The flexible firing member includes a plurality of segments, at least one axial force transmission feature configured to transmit axial forces between the segments, and at least one lateral alignment feature configured to resist lateral misalignment of the segments.

A surgical instrument includes a shaft assembly, an end effector, a driving assembly, at least one motor, and a motor controller. The at least one motor is configured to actuate the driving assembly to deploy staples. The motor controller is in communication with the motor. The motor controller is configured to determine whether values of first and second trigger variables exceed predetermined thresholds. The motor controller is configured to modify at least one motor control parameter in response to determining that the values of the first and second trigger variables exceed the predetermined thresholds. The motor control parameters include a motion profile instituted by the motor controller for the motor, a waiting period during which power to the motor is reduced or stopped, or the predetermined threshold relating to current or force for proximal retraction to be different from the predetermined threshold relating to current or force for distal advancement.

A surgical instrument includes a shaft assembly, an end effector, a firing system, and a firing lockout assembly. The end effector is operatively coupled with the shaft assembly. The end effector includes first and second jaws. The first jaw includes an anvil. The second jaw is configured to removably receive an unspent staple cartridge. The firing system extends through at least a portion of the shaft assembly and the end effector. The firing lockout assembly is selectively coupled with the firing system. The firing lockout assembly is disposed proximal to the end effector. The firing lockout assembly is configured to allow actuation of the firing system in an unlocked configuration in response to the unspent staple cartridge being coupled with the second jaw; and inhibit actuation of the firing system in a locked configuration in response to the unspent staple cartridge being absent from the second jaw.

A method of operating a robotically controlled surgical instrument that includes an end effector, a driving assembly, and a lockout, the method includes inhibiting actuation of the driving assembly when the lockout is in a locked configuration in response to an unspent staple cartridge being absent from a first jaw of the end effector. The method also includes inserting the unspent staple cartridge into the first jaw of the end effector to switch the lockout to an unlocked configuration. The method also includes actuating the driving assembly to pivot the first jaw, which includes the staple cartridge, toward a second jaw of the end effector to at least one of staple or cut tissue with the end effector when the lockout is in the unlocked configuration.

A surgical stapling apparatus includes a housing assembly and an adapter assembly. The adapter assembly defines a longitudinal axis and is selectively attachable to the housing assembly. The adapter assembly includes an end effector and an articulation assembly. The articulation assembly includes an articulation drive screw, an articulation nut threadedly mounted to the articulation drive screw, an articulation yolk coupled to the articulation nut, and an articulation tube that is positioned to move in response to movement of the articulation nut. Movement of the articulation tube causes the end effector to articulate relative to the longitudinal axis.

A surgical instrument comprising a first jaw, a second jaw rotatable relative to said first jaw, and jaw drive system is disclosed. The jaw drive system comprises a drive screw and a closure member threadably engaged with the drive screw configured to close the second jaw. The jaw drive system further comprises an opening link connecting the closure member to the second jaw which acts to open the second jaw when the closure member is driven in an opposite direction. In the event that the second jaw is not opened by the closure link, the jaw drive system further comprises a pull member which is pushed by the closure member to dislodge the second jaw into its open position.

A surgical stapling system for stapling the tissue of a patient is disclosed. The stapling system comprises a housing, a shaft extending from the housing, and an end effector extending from the shaft. The end effector comprises a plurality of staples removably stored therein and, also, an anvil configured to deform the staples. The stapling system further comprises a firing mechanism configured to deploy the staples along a staple firing path longer than 60 mm, a camera configured to capture an image of the patient tissue, a display, and a controller configured to generate an image of the staple firing path, wherein the images are displayed on the display.

A surgical stapling device includes cartridge assembly having a replaceable staple cartridge. The replaceable staple cartridge includes a knife having a cutting blade that is movable between a shielded position and an exposed position in response to advancement of a drive assembly of the stapling device. In aspects of the disclosure, the knife is pivotably coupled to an actuation sled of the cartridge assembly and is biased by a resilient finger on the actuation sled to move the cutting blade to the shielded position.

A method of displaying an operational parameter of a surgical system is disclosed. The method includes receiving, by a cloud computing system of the surgical system, first usage data, from a first subset of surgical hubs of the surgical system; receiving, by the cloud computing system, second usage data, from a second subset of surgical hubs of the surgical system; analyzing, by the cloud computing system, the first and the second usage data to correlate the first and the second usage data with surgical outcome data; determining, by the cloud computing system, based on the correlation, a recommended medical resource usage configuration; and displaying, on respective displays on the first and the second subset of surgical hubs, indications of the recommended medical resource usage configuration.