A clamping system having a clamp head, forceps, and a mechanical actuator. The clamp head has a first clamp or arm, a second clamp arm, a tubular neck, and a drive shaft that extends through the tubular neck. The first clamp arm is moved relative to the second clamp arm by selectively rotating the drive shaft. The forceps have a jaw section. The jaw section has a ring clamp that is sized to receive and retain the tubular neck on the clamp head. A mechanical actuator attaches to the forceps. The mechanical actuator has an elongated shaft that aligns with the drive shaft of the clamp head when the ring clamp is closed around the tubular neck of the clamp head. The alignment enables the mechanical actuator to engage the drive shaft and turn the drive shaft when the mechanical actuator is manipulated.

Provided are surgical instruments, and more particularly, surgical instruments that may be manually operated to perform laparoscopic operations or various surgical operations.

A surgical instrument includes a housing, a shaft extending from the housing, an end effector assembly extending from the shaft and configured to rotate and/or articulate relative to the housing, a motor disposed within the housing and operably coupled to the end effector assembly to rotate and/or articulate of the end effector assembly relative to the housing, and a sensing assembly configured to sense movement of the housing relative to a reference position and to drive the motor to rotate and/or articulate of the end effector assembly relative to the housing based upon the sensed movement. The sensing assembly is configured to operate in each of a standard mode, wherein movement of the housing effects rotation and/or articulation of the end effector assembly in a similar direction, and a reversed mode, wherein movement of the housing effects rotation and/or articulation of the end effector assembly in an opposite direction.

A surgical instrument includes a shaft and a pair of jaw members disposed on the shaft and extending from an at least partially spherical element. The jaw members are moveable in pitch and yaw relative to the center of the sphere in response to actuation forces applied to a proximal drive mechanism of the instrument. The surgical instrument may include a manually operated handle for manual input of actuation forces by a user, or it may be removably mounted to a drive component of a robotic system such that its proximal drive mechanism is operatively engaged with actuators that generate mechanical output that is transferred to the proximal drive mechanism.

Minimally invasive surgical methods employ an offset drive shaft to actuate an end effector. A minimally invasive surgical method includes introducing an end effector to an internal surgical site. The end effector includes an end effector base that is coupled to the instrument shaft via a wrist. An end effector articulation mechanism is operated to reorient the end effector base relative to the instrument shaft. A surgical task is performed by operating a motor to rotate an offset drive shaft relative to the instrument shaft to actuate the end effector.

A medical manipulator includes: an end effector provided at a distal side of the medical manipulator; a proximal housing provided at a proximal side of the medical manipulator; and an elongated portion coupled to both the end effector and the proximal end. The elongated portion includes: a first elongated member coupled to both the end effector and the proximal housing; a second elongated member coupled to only either one of the end effector and the proximal housing, the second elongated member being configured to form by surrounding the first elongated member; and to be slidable in a longitudinal direction relative to the first elongated member; and a third elongated member coupled to both the end effector and the proximal housing, the third elongated member being configured to form an exterior of the elongated portion by surrounding the second elongated member.

This application is directed to a medical instrument with a hollow shaft, an actuating unit at the proximal end and an instrument tip with an instrument at the distal end, the instrument actuated via an actuating element, the element being in connection with the actuating unit and the instrument tip being pivotable relative to the shaft via a joint mechanism; the joint mechanism having pivoting members with proximal-side drive via steering wires such that movement of the proximal-side drive causes movement of the distal-side pivoting members and pivoting of the instrument tip; and a trigger mechanism with which the steering wires can be brought into a relaxed state that releases the articulation of the instrument tip. In order for the medical instrument to be cleaned and ensure that the medical instrument is safely removed even if the proximal-side drive fails, the trigger mechanism is a purely mechanical trigger mechanism.

Medical systems, devices and methods are provided for engaging tissue, e.g. for clipping tissue, closing a perforation or performing hemostasis. Generally, the medical system including a housing, first and second jaws rotatable relative to the housing, a driver, and an elongate drive wire. The elongate drive wire may be disconnected from the driver, first and second jaws, and the housing, which are left in vivo engaged with the tissue.

A deployment mechanism for selectively deploying and retracting an energizable member and/an insulative member relative to an end effector assembly of a surgical instrument includes one or more actuators, a clutch assembly, and a drive assembly. The clutch assembly is configured to couple to the actuator(s) to provide rotational motion in the first direction in response to such rotation of the actuator(s) and to decouple from the actuator(s) in response to rotation thereof in the second direction. The drive assembly is operably coupled to the clutch assembly and is configured to convert the rotational motion provided by the clutch assembly into longitudinal motion to translate the energizable member and/or insulative member from a storage position to a deployed position and to translate the energizable member and/or the insulative member from the deployed position back to the storage position.

An articulated instrument and method of its manufacture includes a plurality of segments connected to one another end-to-end, each having a hollow tubular shape defined by a wall, the wall comprising three or more rectangular panels connected along their respective edges at acute angles. A plurality of tendons extends at least partially through the plurality of segments and is configured to apply tension that selectively causes two adjacent segments from the plurality of tendons to bend relative to one another along a pivot joint disposed between the two adjacent segments. The plurality of segments is formed by staggered rectangular portions of a single sheet of stock material, each rectangular portion being folded to form the hollow tubular shape and connected to an adjacent rectangular portion by a tab, each tab defining a respective pivot joint.