A surgical instrument end effector assembly includes a first jaw member defining an insulative tissue-contacting surface and first and second electrically-conductive tissue-contacting surfaces disposed on either side of the insulative surface. A second jaw member of the end effector assembly includes an ultrasonic blade body positioned to oppose the insulative surface of the first jaw member, and first and second electrically-conductive tissue-contacting surfaces disposed on either side of the ultrasonic blade body and positioned to oppose the first and second electrically-conductive surfaces, respectively, of the first jaw member. The first jaw member is movable relative to the second jaw member between a spaced-apart position and an approximated position to grasp tissue therebetween. The first and second electrically-conductive surfaces of the second jaw member are movable, independent of the first jaw member, relative to the first jaw member and the ultrasonic blade body between a retracted position and an extended position.

In one general aspect, various embodiments are directed to an ultrasonic surgical instrument that has a cutting blade coupled to a motor and an ultrasonic blade coupled to an ultrasonic transducer. In some embodiments, the cutting blade includes a longitudinally extending lumen and the ultrasonic blade is disposed within the longitudinally extending lumen of the cutting blade. In other embodiments, the ultrasonic blade includes a longitudinally extending lumen and the cutting blade is disposed within the longitudinally extending lumen of the ultrasonic blade. In yet other embodiments, the ultrasonic blade is substantially parallel to the cutting blade.

An ultrasonic instrument comprises an ultrasonic transducer, an acoustic waveguide, and an ultrasonic blade. The blade includes a pair of obliquely extending edges. The obliquely extending edges diverge away from the longitudinal axis of the waveguide and away from each other along respective paths extending distally in relation to the waveguide. A distal portion of the blade is wider than a proximal portion of the blade along a plane. The blade further includes a curved distal edge and several laterally presented surfaces. The laterally presented surfaces may provide combinations of concave and convex curvatures. The laterally presented surfaces may be angled and/or curved along one or more orthogonal planes associated with the longitudinal axis of the waveguide.

A surgical apparatus includes a body assembly, a shaft, an acoustic waveguide, an articulation section, an end effector, and a rigidizing member. The shaft extends distally from the body assembly and defines a longitudinal axis. The acoustic waveguide includes a flexible portion. The articulation section is coupled with the shaft. A portion of the articulation section encompasses the flexible portion of the waveguide. The articulation section includes a first member and a second member. The second member is longitudinally translatable relative to the first member. The end effector includes an ultrasonic blade in acoustic communication with the waveguide. The rigidizing member is configured to selectively engage at least a portion of the articulation section to thereby selectively provide rigidity to the articulation section.

Systems, devices and methods for managing surgical instruments throughout their lifecycle include disabling a usage based device lockout and providing notifications for devices nearing a usage based lockout. A device adaptor connected inline between a surgical instrument and a power source can be configured to alter a device EEPROM to allow for additional device usage despite a usage based lockout. Notifications and user prompts may be displayed requiring a user to acknowledge that a usage based device lockout has occurred in order to avoid an attempt to use an expired device in a future procedure.

An ultrasonic surgical instrument includes a body, an ultrasonic transducer rotatably supported within the body and having a threaded distal end, a shaft extending from the body, a waveguide extending through the shaft and having a threaded proximal end configured to threadedly engage the threaded distal end to define a threaded coupling, and an end effector at a distal end of the shaft. An integrated torque wrench mechanism is arranged within the body and includes a first torque wrench member rotationally coupled with a proximal end of the transducer, and a second torque wrench member arranged proximally of the first torque wrench member. The torque wrench members are configured to selectively couple together and frictionally engage one another to facilitate application of a predetermined maximum torque to the threaded coupling. The torque wrench members are configured to automatically decouple upon application of the predetermined maximum torque to the threaded coupling.

An ultrasonic transducer includes: two metal blocks; a plurality of piezoelectric elements having rectangular surfaces and stacked between the metal blocks; and bonding materials bonding the metal block and the piezoelectric element and the piezoelectric elements to each other. Thermal expansion coefficients in the diagonal directions from the center of the surface of the piezoelectric element to the four corners thereof are equal to each other.

Surgical instruments with articulatable surgical end effectors and rotary driven flexible drive members.

An apparatus comprises a body assembly and a shaft extending distally therefrom. The shaft defines a longitudinal axis. The apparatus further comprises an acoustic waveguide and an articulation section coupled with the shaft. A portion of the articulation section encompasses a flexible portion of the waveguide. The articulation section further comprises first member and a second member that is longitudinally translatable relative to the first member. The apparatus further comprises an end effector including an ultrasonic blade in acoustic communication with the waveguide. A distal portion the ultrasonic blade is disposed in a first direction away from the longitudinal axis at a bend angle. The end effector also includes a clamp arm that is coupled with the first member and the second member, and an articulation drive assembly operable to drive articulation of the articulation section to thereby deflect the end effector from the longitudinal axis in the first direction.

An ultrasonic treatment device includes a connecting unit. The connecting unit including a first engagement portion which engages with a first screw portion and a second engagement portion which engages with a second screw portion, the connecting unit connecting a probe and a vibration generating unit to transmit the ultrasonic vibrations to the probe by rotation relative to the vibration generating unit and a treatment unit in a first direction around a longitudinal axis, and disconnecting the probe and the vibration generating unit from each other by rotation in a second direction opposite to the first direction.