US 12,465,384 B2
Surgical instruments with articulating shafts
William A. Olson, Lebanon, OH (US); Jeffrey D. Messerly, Cincinnati, OH (US); Daniel W. Price, Loveland, OH (US); Kevin L Houser, Springboro, OH (US); Craig N. Faller, Batavia, OH (US); William D. Dannaher, Cincinnati, OH (US); Sora Rhee, Spring Mills, PA (US); and Tylor C. Muhlenkamp, Cincinnati, OH (US)
Assigned to Cilag GmbH International, Zug (CH)
Filed by Cilag GmbH International, Zug (CH)
Filed on Feb. 17, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/111,127.
Application 16/841,322 is a division of application No. 15/187,553, filed on Jun. 20, 2016, abandoned.
Application 15/187,553 is a division of application No. 13/538,588, filed on Jun. 29, 2012, granted, now 9,393,037, issued on Jul. 19, 2016.
Application 18/111,127 is a continuation of application No. 16/841,322, filed on Apr. 6, 2020, granted, now 11,583,306.
Prior Publication US 2023/0277205 A1, Sep. 7, 2023
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. A61B 17/295 (2006.01); A61B 17/22 (2006.01); A61B 17/32 (2006.01); A61B 17/00 (2006.01); A61B 17/29 (2006.01)
CPC A61B 17/295 (2013.01) [A61B 17/22004 (2013.01); A61B 17/320068 (2013.01); A61B 17/320092 (2013.01); A61B 2017/003 (2013.01); A61B 2017/00327 (2013.01); A61B 2017/00331 (2013.01); A61B 2017/00336 (2013.01); A61B 2017/22014 (2013.01); A61B 2017/22015 (2013.01); A61B 17/2202 (2013.01); A61B 2017/2927 (2013.01); A61B 2017/320071 (2017.08); A61B 2017/320072 (2013.01); A61B 2017/320075 (2017.08); A61B 2017/320089 (2017.08); A61B 2017/320093 (2017.08); A61B 2017/320094 (2017.08)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An articulatable surgical instrument comprising:
a shaft extending along a longitudinal axis; and
an end effector comprising a curved ultrasonic blade positioned within the shaft and translatable relative to the shaft along the longitudinal axis;
wherein the curved ultrasonic blade comprises a proximal portion that is curved in a first direction away from the longitudinal axis, an intermediate portion that is curved in a second direction away from the longitudinal axis and opposite the first direction,
wherein the curvature of the proximal portion and the curvature of the intermediate portion both comprise at least one of a node or an anti-node that occurs at a point of tangency when the ultrasonic blade is driven at a resonant frequency.