Abstract: A surgical image acquisition system includes multiple illumination sources, each source emitting light at a specified wavelength, a light sensor to receive light reflected from a tissue sample illuminated by each of the illumination sources, and a computing system. The computer system may receive data from the light sensor when the tissue sample is illuminated by the illumination sources, determine a depth of a structure within the tissue sample, and calculate visualization data regarding the structure and its depth within the tissue. The visualization data may have a format for use by a display system. The structure may include vascular tissue. The illumination sources may include red, green, blue, infrared, ultraviolet, and white light sources. The structure depth may be determined by a spectroscopy method or a Doppler shift method. The system may include a controller and computer enabled instructions to accomplish the above.

Abstract: Various surgical hubs are disclosed. A surgical hub comprises a storage device; a processor coupled to the storage device; and a memory coupled to the processor. The memory stores instructions executable by the processor to: receive data from a surgical instrument coupled to the surgical hub; and determine a rate at which to transfer the data from the surgical hub to a remote cloud-based medical analytics network based on available storage capacity of the storage device.

Abstract: A motorized surgical instrument is disclosed. The surgical instrument includes a displacement member configured to translate within the surgical instrument, a motor coupled to the displacement member to translate the displacement member, a sensor configured to sense a thickness of a tissue grasped by an end effector, and a control circuit coupled to the motor and the sensor. The control circuit is configured to retrieve an expected thickness of the tissue, determine the thickness of the tissue via the sensor, and set a duty cycle for driving the motor. The duty cycle corresponds to the thickness of the tissue relative to the expected thickness of the tissue.

Abstract: A surgical instrument comprises a controller configured to control application of RF or ultrasonic energy at a low level when displacement or intensity of a button is above a first threshold but below a second threshold higher than the first threshold, and control application of RF or ultrasonic energy at a high level when the displacement or intensity exceeds the second threshold. In another aspect, a surgical instrument comprises a first sensor configured to measure a tissue characteristic at a first location, a second sensor configured to measure the tissue characteristic at a second location, and a controller configured to, based at least in part on the measured tissue characteristic at the first location and the second location, control application of RF or ultrasonic energy.

Abstract: Methods of controlling velocity of a firing member in a robotic surgical system are disclosed. One method detects an end effector condition during closure, sets a command velocity of a displacement member based on the closure condition, fires the displacement member at the set command velocity, detects an end effector condition during a firing phase, and sets a command velocity based on the firing condition. Another method receives closure force of a closure member, compares the actual closure force to a threshold, determines a set point velocity based on the comparison, and controls the actual velocity of the closure member based on the set point velocity. Another method receives actual closure force of a closure member, receives actual position of a firing member, and sets a new closure force based on the actual closure force applied to the closure member and the actual position of the firing member.

Abstract: A surgical instrument includes a handle assembly, a power source coupled with the handle assembly, and a control circuit coupled with the handle assembly and the power source. The handle assembly, the power source, and the control circuit are configured to drive an end effector of a shaft assembly coupled with the handle assembly to perform an operation on tissue. The control circuit is configured to receive life deduction event data. The control circuit is configured to determine an end of life for the power source based on the life deduction event data.

Abstract: A cloud based analytics medical system comprises a processor, a memory coupled to the processor, an input/output interface to access data from medical hub communication devices, each coupled to a surgical instrument, and a database to store the data. The processor aggregates medical resource usage data from the medical hubs. The medical resource usage data comprises data pertaining to medical products and indication of efficiency based on usage, disposal records, and location data describing which medical facility the medical product was allocated to and patient outcome data pertaining to a procedure that utilized the medical product. The processor can determine a correlation between positive outcomes from the outcome data and location data of the medical product, generate a medical recommendation to change a medical resource usage practice based on the correlation, and display the medical recommendation to a medical hub at the local facility.

Abstract: Various surgical hubs and data stripping methods are disclosed. The surgical hub comprises a processor and a memory coupled to the processor. The memory stores instructions executable by the processor to interrogate a modular device coupled to the processor via a modular communication hub. The modular device is a source of data sets that include patient identity data and surgical procedure data. The processor also executes instructions to: receive a data set from the modular device; discard the patient identity data and any portion of the surgical procedure data that identifies the patient from the data set; extract anonymous data from the data set and create an anonymized data set; and configure operation of the surgical hub or the modular device based on the anonymized data set.

Abstract: A cloud based analytics medical system is disclosed. The system includes a processor, a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, an input/output interface configured for accessing data from a plurality of surgical hubs and a database residing in the memory and configured to store the data. The surgical hub is communicatively coupled to the surgical instrument and the processor. The memory is configured to store instructions executable by the processor to receive critical data from the surgical hub as determined by the surgical hub based on screening criteria, determine a priority status of the critical data, route the critical data to a cloud storage location residing within the memory, and determine a response to the critical data based on an operational characteristic indicated by the critical data. A time component of the response is determined based on the priority status.

Abstract: Various analytics systems are disclosed. An analytics system is configured to communicably couple to a plurality of surgical hubs that are controlled by control programs. The analytics system comprises a processor and a memory coupled to the processor. The memory stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the analytics system to: receive perioperative data indicative of an operational behavior of the surgical hubs; analyze the perioperative data to determine whether an update condition is satisfied; generate a control program update according to whether the update condition is satisfied; and transmit the control program update to the surgical hubs. The perioperative data comprises data detected by the surgical hubs during a surgical procedure. The control program update is configured to alter the manner in which the control programs operate the surgical hubs during a surgical procedure based on the operational behavior.

Abstract: An interactive control unit is disclosed. The interactive control unit includes an interactive touchscreen display, an interface configured to couple the control unit to a surgical hub, a processor, and a memory coupled to the processor. The memory stores instructions executable by the processor to receive input commands from the interactive touchscreen display located inside a sterile field and transmit the input commands to the surgical hub to control devices coupled to the surgical hub located outside the sterile field.

Abstract: A surgical instrument comprises a shaft assembly comprising a shaft and an end effector coupled to a distal end of the shaft; a handle assembly coupled to a proximal end of the shaft; a battery assembly coupled to the handle assembly; a radio frequency (RF) energy output powered by the battery assembly and configured to apply RF energy to a tissue; an ultrasonic energy output powered by the battery assembly and configured to apply ultrasonic energy to the tissue; and a controller configured to, based at least in part on a measured tissue characteristic, start application of RF energy by the RF energy output or application of ultrasonic energy by the ultrasonic energy output at a first time.

Abstract: A flexible assembly of a motor driven surgical system may include a flexible shaft circuit strip and a knife bar having a first laminated plate disposed along a first side of the circuit strip and a second laminated plate disposed along a second side of the circuit strip. The knife bar may reciprocate along a longitudinal axis of the circuit strip. Each laminated plate may be composed of a pair of laminated plates. The flexible assembly may include a first leaf spring disposed between the first side of the circuit strip and the first laminated plate, and a second leaf spring disposed between the second side of the circuit strip and the second laminated plate. The flexible assembly may be disposed within at least a portion of a distal portion of an articulating shaft and at least a portion of an articulation connector of the surgical device.

Abstract: A surgical hub is configured to authenticate data communications with surgical devices. The surgical hub comprises a processor and a memory storing instructions executable by the processor to: transmit a public key to a detected surgical device; receive a message from the surgical device encrypted using the public key associated with the surgical hub, the encrypted message comprising a shared secret associated with the surgical device and a checksum function associated with the shared secret, wherein the shared secret comprises an identifier assigned to the surgical device; decrypt the encrypted message, using a private key associated with the public key, to reveal the shared secret and the checksum function; receive data communications from the surgical device encrypted using the shared secret, and comprising a checksum value, derived via the checksum function, based on the data communications; and decrypt the data communications using the shared secret.

Abstract: Various surgical hubs are disclosed. A surgical hub is for use with a medical imaging device at a remote surgical site in a surgical procedure. The surgical hub comprises a circuit configured to: receive a livestream of the surgical site from the medical imaging device; capture an image frame of a surgical step of the surgical procedure from the livestream; derive information relevant to the surgical step from data extracted from the image frame; and overlay the information onto the livestream.

Abstract: Surgical hub systems are disclosed. A surgical hub system comprises a surgical hub configured to communicably couple to a modular device comprising a sensor configured to detect data associated with the modular device and a device processor. The surgical hub comprises a hub processor, a hub memory coupled to the hub processor. The surgical hub system also comprises a distributed control system executable at least in part by each of the device processor and the hub processor. The distributed control system is configured to: receive the data detected by the sensor; determine control adjustments for the modular device according to the data; and control the modular device according to the control adjustments. When in a first mode, the distributed control system is executed by both the hub processor and the device processor. In a second mode, the distributed control system is executed solely by the device processor.

Abstract: Various systems and methods for controlling an ultrasonic surgical instrument according to the location of tissue grasped within an end effector are disclosed. A control circuit can be configured to apply varying power levels, via a generator, to an ultrasonic transducer driving an ultrasonic electromechanical system to oscillate an ultrasonic blade. Further, the control circuit can measure impedances of the ultrasonic transducer corresponding to the varying power levels and determine a location of tissue positioned within the end effector according to a difference between the impedances of the ultrasonic transducer relative to a threshold.

Abstract: An interactive control unit is disclosed. The interactive control unit includes an interactive touchscreen display, an interface configured to couple the control unit to a surgical hub, a processor, and a memory coupled to the processor. The memory stores instructions executable by the processor to receive input commands from the interactive touchscreen display located inside a sterile field and transmit the input commands to the surgical hub to control devices coupled to the surgical hub located outside the sterile field.

Abstract: Various surgical hubs are disclosed. A surgical hub is for use with a surgical system in a surgical procedure performed in an operating room. The surgical hub comprises a control circuit configured to: pair the surgical hub with a first device of the surgical system; assign a first identifier to the first device; pair the surgical hub with a second device of the surgical system; assign a second identifier to the second device; and selectively pair the first device with the second device based on perioperative data.

Abstract: An image acquisition system includes a plurality of illumination sources, each configured to emit light having a specified central wavelength, a first light sensing element having a first field of view and configured to receive illumination reflected from a portion of a surgical site, a second light sensing element having a second field of view and configured to receive illumination reflected from a second portion of the surgical site, and a computing system. The computing system is configured to receive data from the first light sensing element and from the second light sensing element, compute imaging data based on the data received from the first and second light sensing elements, and transmit the imaging data for receipt by a display system. The second field of view may overlap at least a portion of the first field of view. A control system of the image acquisition system may function similarly.