Patents by Inventor Joseph D. Paulowski

Joseph D. Paulowski has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11931029
    Abstract: A surgical instrument includes a body, a shaft, a motor, a firing assembly, an end effector, and a control circuit. The motor is activatable to actuate the firing assembly through a firing stroke to staple and sever tissue with the end effector. The control circuit is configured to monitor one or more use metrics of the surgical instrument. Responsive to at least one of the one or more use metrics exceeding a predetermined threshold, the control circuit is further configured to initiate at least one of providing a notification to a user or disabling the firing assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: Cilag GmbH International
    Inventors: Nicholas J. Ross, Joseph D. Paulowski, Shane R. Adams, Matthew D. Cowperthwait
  • Publication number: 20240057999
    Abstract: A surgical instrument includes a body, a shaft, a motor, a firing assembly, an end effector, and a control circuit. The motor is activatable to actuate the firing assembly through a firing stroke to staple and sever tissue with the end effector. The control circuit is configured to monitor one or more use metrics of the surgical instrument. Responsive to at least one of the one or more use metrics exceeding a predetermined threshold, the control circuit is further configured to initiate at least one of providing a notification to a user or disabling the firing assembly.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 19, 2023
    Publication date: February 22, 2024
    Inventors: Nicholas J. Ross, Joseph D. Paulowski, Shane R. Adams, Matthew D. Cowperthwait
  • Publication number: 20240001416
    Abstract: A method of determining a disposal methodology of a surgical kit includes determining a geographical location in which the surgical kit is being used, generating a location data based on the geographical location, and providing the location data set to a resource device. The method further includes receiving the disposal methodology from the resource device based on the location data set, then displaying a set of instruction based on the disposal methodology received from the resource device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 30, 2022
    Publication date: January 4, 2024
    Inventors: Frederick E. Shelton, IV, Jacqueline C. Aronhalt, Matthew D. Cowperthwait, Shane R. Adams, Taylor W. Aronhalt, Joseph D. Paulowski, Cesar Perez
  • Publication number: 20240006048
    Abstract: A method of reclaiming portions of a surgical kit having a surgical instrument includes disassembling the surgical instrument and determining a disposal methodology of the surgical kit. Furthermore, reclaiming further includes verifying reuse capacity of a portion of the surgical instrument and determining a waste stream for the portion of the surgical instrument. The method also includes disassembling the portion of the surgical instrument from a remainder of the surgical instrument at a predetermined region of the surgical instrument to thereby reclaim the portion of the surgical instrument according to the waste stream.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 30, 2022
    Publication date: January 4, 2024
    Inventors: Frederick E. Shelton, IV, Jacqueline C. Aronhalt, Shane R. Adams, Taylor W. Aronhalt, David A. Bruns, Bruce Brunson, JR., Ellen Burkart, Robert N. Carranza, Matthew D. Cowperthwait, Aaron J. Chow, Matthew E. Derrico, Kevin M. Fiebig, Guion Y. Lucas, Cameron D. McLain, Joseph D. Paulowski, Cesar Perez, Nicholas J. Ross, Patrick J. Scoggins, Rebecca Spatholt, Gregory A. Trees
  • Publication number: 20230301650
    Abstract: A surgical instrument includes a body, a shaft, a motor, a firing assembly, an end effector, and a control circuit. The motor is activatable to actuate the firing assembly through a firing stroke to staple and sever tissue with the end effector. The control circuit is configured to monitor one or more use metrics of the surgical instrument. Responsive to at least one of the one or more use metrics exceeding a predetermined threshold, the control circuit is further configured to initiate at least one of providing a notification to a user or disabling the firing assembly.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 23, 2022
    Publication date: September 28, 2023
    Inventors: Nicholas J. Ross, Joseph D. Paulowski, Shane R. Adams, Matthew D. Cowperthwait
  • Publication number: 20220015761
    Abstract: A surgical instrument includes a body having a firing actuator, a shaft, a motor, an end effector, and a control circuit. The motor is configured to activate in response to a firing actuation of the firing actuator. The end effector is operable to staple and sever tissue and includes a cutting edge configured to selectively translate longitudinally between a proximal position and a distal position in response to an activation of the motor. The control circuit is configured to generate a forward motor control signal to pulsate the cutting edge. The forward motor control signal includes a first time duration including movement of the cutting edge distally from the proximal position to a second longitudinal position, a second time duration including ceased movement of the cutting edge, and a third time duration including movement of the cutting edge distally from the second longitudinal position toward the distal position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 16, 2020
    Publication date: January 20, 2022
    Inventors: Joseph D. Paulowski, Shane R. Adams, Nicholas J. Ross, Johnnie Bell
  • Patent number: 11224432
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a body, a shaft extending distally from the body, a motor, a stapling assembly disposed at a distal end of the shaft, and a timer circuit operatively coupled to the motor and the firing actuator. The body includes a firing actuator and the motor is configured to activate in response to a firing actuation of the firing actuator. The motor is further configured to deactivate after a first predetermined time period subsequent to the firing actuation. The stapling assembly is configured to selectively move from an open position to a closed position to clamp tissue and is operable to drive a plurality of staples into the clamped tissue in response to activation of the motor. The timer circuit is configured to activate a timer in response to the firing actuation. The timer is configured to run for a second predetermined time period. The timer circuit is configured to ensure deactivation of the motor upon expiration of the second predetermined time period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2022
    Assignee: Cilag GmbH International
    Inventors: Shane R. Adams, Nicholas J. Ross, Joseph D. Paulowski, William R. Stager, Timothy E. Goode, Austin E. Wise
  • Publication number: 20200281592
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a body, a shaft extending distally from the body, a motor, a stapling assembly disposed at a distal end of the shaft, and a timer circuit operatively coupled to the motor and the firing actuator. The body includes a firing actuator and the motor is configured to activate in response to a firing actuation of the firing actuator. The motor is further configured to deactivate after a first predetermined time period subsequent to the firing actuation. The stapling assembly is configured to selectively move from an open position to a closed position to clamp tissue and is operable to drive a plurality of staples into the clamped tissue in response to activation of the motor. The timer circuit is configured to activate a timer in response to the firing actuation. The timer is configured to run for a second predetermined time period. The timer circuit is configured to ensure deactivation of the motor upon expiration of the second predetermined time period.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 26, 2019
    Publication date: September 10, 2020
    Inventors: Shane R. Adams, Nicholas J. Ross, Joseph D. Paulowski, William R. Stager, Timothy E. Goode, Austin E. Wise
  • Publication number: 20200281593
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a body, a shaft, a stapling assembly, and a sequential logic device. The body includes a safety switch, a firing actuator, and a motor. The stapling assembly is disposed at a distal end of the shaft, wherein the stapling assembly is configured to selectively move from an open position to a closed position to clamp tissue. The sequential logic device is operatively coupled with the motor and configured to detect an actuation of the safety switch and of the firing actuator. The sequential logic device is further operable to detect an order in which the safety switch and the firing actuator are actuated, compare the detected order to a predetermined order, and in response to determining that the detected order is equivalent to the predetermined order, transmit a motor activation signal to the motor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 26, 2019
    Publication date: September 10, 2020
    Inventors: Shane R. Adams, Nicholas J. Ross, Joseph D. Paulowski, William R. Stager, Timothy E. Goode, Austin E. Wise