US 11,696,781 B2
Blade cooling gas/fluid storage
Jeffery D. Bruns, Cincinnati, OH (US); Ellen Burkart, Cincinnati, OH (US); Demetrius N. Harris, Cincinnati, OH (US); Troy Q. Le, West Chester, OH (US); Guion Y. Lucas, Cincinnati, OH (US); Alexander S. O'Leary, St. Charles, MO (US); Rafael J. Ruiz Ortiz, Mason, OH (US); Amrita S. Sawhney, Cincinnati, OH (US); Laura S. Downing, Cincinnati, OH (US); Christopher Q. Seow, Cincinnati, OH (US); and Jeffrey C. Souder, Lexington, KY (US)
Assigned to Cilag GmbH International, Zug (CH)
Filed by Cilag GmbH International, Zug (CH)
Filed on Jul. 26, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/384,848.
Application 17/384,848 is a continuation of application No. 16/398,632, filed on Apr. 30, 2019, granted, now 11,202,650.
Prior Publication US 2022/0015797 A1, Jan. 20, 2022
Int. Cl. A61B 17/32 (2006.01); A61B 17/00 (2006.01)
CPC A61B 17/320092 (2013.01) [A61B 2017/00367 (2013.01); A61B 2017/00402 (2013.01); A61B 2017/320074 (2017.08); A61B 2017/320094 (2017.08); A61B 2017/320095 (2017.08); A61B 2217/007 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A surgical instrument, comprising:
(a) a body;
(b) a shaft assembly extending distally from the body and including an acoustic waveguide configured to couple with an ultrasonic transducer;
(c) an end effector, including:
(i) an ultrasonic blade in acoustic communication with the acoustic waveguide, and
(ii) a clamp arm movably coupled relative to the ultrasonic blade and configured to move from an open position toward a closed position for compressing a tissue against the ultrasonic blade;
(d) a clamp actuator movably coupled relative to the body and configured to selectively move from a first actuator position toward a second actuator position, wherein the clamp actuator is operatively coupled to the clamp arm to thereby direct movement of the clamp arm from the open position toward the closed position as the clamp actuator respectively moves from the first actuator position toward the second actuator position; and
(e) a blade cooling system including a pressurized syringe, wherein the pressurized syringe includes a fluid reservoir configured to house a fluid coolant therein, wherein the pressurized syringe is operatively coupled with the clamp actuator and selectively operable to discharge the fluid coolant onto the ultrasonic blade in response to the clamp actuator moving from the second actuator position to the first actuator position, wherein the blade cooling system further includes:
(i) a plunger positioned within the fluid reservoir and configured to selectively move therein for discharging the fluid coolant from the fluid reservoir, and
(ii) a plug operatively connected to the plunger and configured to be selectively rotated to thereby direct the plunger to change a fluid pressure within the fluid reservoir.