US 2,019,200,981 · Filed 2018-12-04

The Smart Surgical Stapler That Shows Surgeons Exactly Where Tissue Is

Imagine a surgical stapler that not only grips tissue between its two jaws but also tells the surgeon where that tissue is located in real time on a screen. This patent covers a method that compresses tissue during surgery while simultaneously displaying its exact position to the surgical team, reducing guesswork and improving precision.

Curated and verified by the IsItPatented Editorial team

The plain-English version

What it protects

The patent covers a surgical method where a specialized stapling instrument compresses tissue between two jaws, then communicates the location of that compressed tissue back to a control hub, which displays it on a visual screen. What's protected here is the specific combination of tissue compression, real-time location detection, and visual feedback display — the claim covers performing all three actions together as an integrated surgical workflow, not just the stapler hardware itself.

Why it matters

In surgery, knowing exactly where compressed tissue sits before stapling or cutting is critical to avoiding damage to nearby organs or blood vessels. By giving surgeons live visual feedback about tissue location, this patent addresses a real safety and precision problem in minimally invasive surgery. For Ethicon, a major surgical device manufacturer, patenting this combination of sensing and display capability creates a competitive moat around next-generation surgical instruments that combine hardware with real-time guidance.

Real-world use

When a surgeon uses a modern robotic or articulated surgical stapler during a minimally invasive procedure, they're relying on camera feeds and instrument feedback to see what they're grasping; this patent covers that exact capability of showing tissue location before the staple fires.

Original USPTO abstract

A method of compressing tissue during a surgical procedure is disclosed. The method comprises obtaining a surgical instrument comprising an end effector, wherein the end effector comprises a first jaw and a second jaw, establishing a communication pathway between the surgical instrument and a surgical hub, and inserting the surgical instrument into a surgical site. The method further comprises compressing tissue between the first jaw and the second jaw, determining a location of the compressed tissue with respect to at least one of the first jaw and the second jaw, communicating the determined location of the compressed tissue to the surgical hub, and displaying the determined location of the compressed tissue on a visual feedback device.

Patent details

Publication number: US 2,019,200,981
Filing date: 2018-12-04
Grant date: Application — not yet granted
Assignee: Ethicon Llc
Inventor(s): HARRIS, JASON L., SHELTON, IV, FREDERICK E., ECKERT, Chad E., WONG, JORDAN B., YATES, DAVID C., WIDENHOUSE, TAMARA, BAXTER, III, CHESTER O.
CPC class: A61B17/072

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