Battery-powered hand-held ultrasonic surgical cautery cutting device
Patent No. US9107690 (titled "Battery-powered hand-held ultrasonic surgical cautery cutting device") on Nov 30, 2011. The application was issued on Aug 18, 2015.
What is this patent about?
’690 is related to the field of ultrasonic surgical instruments, specifically cordless, battery-powered handheld devices used for cutting and cauterizing tissue. Traditional ultrasonic tools rely on bulky desktop generators and restrictive power cords that compromise the sterile field and limit a surgeon’s mobility. The background context involves the technical challenge of managing high-frequency electrical resonance and power delivery within a compact, self-contained form factor that can be safely sterilized and reused.
The underlying idea behind ’690 is the implementation of an intelligent battery assembly that acts as the central controller for the surgical system. Rather than serving as a simple power source, the battery contains a sophisticated control circuit with a microprocessor and a real-time clock designed to identify the specific surgical tool it is powering. This allows the system to manage the lifecycle of various components by distinguishing between a temporary pause in a procedure and the conclusion of a surgical case, ensuring that components are not used beyond their reliable operational limits.
The claims of ’690 focus on a battery assembly featuring a housing that removably connects to a surgical device and contains a modular battery and a control circuit. The independent claims specifically protect the mechanism by which the control circuit detects the identity of the surgical device and determines operational parameters based on that identity. Central to the claims is the use of a real-time clock to calculate an actual use count, which is determined by measuring the elapsed time between activations to differentiate between a momentary lapse in use and a completed surgical procedure.
In practice, the invention utilizes a state-of-charge monitoring system and a communication link to verify that the attached tool—such as an ultrasonic transducer or waveguide—has sufficient energy and remaining life to complete a procedure. The control circuit records usage data in an internal memory and can selectively disable power delivery if a component is deemed 'no longer reliable.' This is achieved through a master-slave relationship where the battery controller regulates the DC output to the generator while tracking the specific serial identity of the connected hardware.
This approach differentiates itself from prior art by moving the intelligence and safety logic into the removable battery pack rather than a stationary box. By using the elapsed time detection via a real-time clock, the system avoids the pitfalls of simple activation counters that can be easily deceived by rapid trigger pulls. Furthermore, the integration of a hermetically sealed housing and a pressure relief valve allows the sophisticated electronics to survive the harsh environments of vapor-phase hydrogen peroxide sterilization, enabling a high-tech, reusable power solution for disposable surgical handles.
How does this patent fit in bigger picture?
Technical Landscape
In the late 2000s when ’690 was filed, ultrasonic surgical instruments were typically implemented using corded architectures that required a physical connection to a large, external generator console for power and signal processing. At a time when systems commonly relied on these tethered base units to manage the complex dynamic frequency and voltage adjustments necessary for maintaining resonance, the integration of high-power drive electronics into a portable format was limited by the size of traditional power supplies and the heat dissipation requirements of the circuitry. During this era, hardware constraints made the delivery of consistent, high-voltage AC waveforms from a localized, low-voltage DC source non-trivial, particularly when attempting to maintain the precise resonant frequencies required for effective tissue cutting and coagulation in a hand-held form factor.
Prosecution Position
The disclosed invention represents a meaningful technical advancement through the architectural shift from a tethered, console-based system to a fully self-contained, battery-powered ultrasonic surgical tool. By integrating the battery power supply, control circuit, drive circuit, and matching circuit entirely within the handpiece, the system overcomes the technical constraints of mobility and cable interference inherent in surgical environments. The advancement is characterized by the ability of the internal circuitry to convert low-voltage battery power into high-voltage AC waveforms that dynamically track the composite resonant frequency of the transducer and waveguide under varying mechanical loads. This integration enables a cordless capability that maintains the thermal and mechanical performance of stationary generators while facilitating a modular design where expensive electronic components can be reused and lower-cost mechanical components can be disposed of or sterilized.
Claims
This patent contains 19 claims, with claims 1 and 19 being independent. The independent claims focus on a battery assembly for a surgical device featuring a control circuit that identifies the connected device and manages power delivery based on operational parameters, specifically tracking an actual use count and distinguishing between completed uses and momentary lapses in use based on elapsed time. The dependent claims further define the system by specifying the components of the surgical device, such as ultrasonic waveguides and transducers, and detailing the logic used by the control circuit to record use totals, compare them against maximum thresholds, and prevent power supply once those limits are reached.
Key Claim Terms New
Definitions of key terms used in the patent claims.
Litigation Cases New
US Latest litigation cases involving this patent.
Patent Family
File Wrapper
The dossier documents provide a comprehensive record of the patent's prosecution history - including filings, correspondence, and decisions made by patent offices - and are crucial for understanding the patent's legal journey and any challenges it may have faced during examination.
Get instant alerts for new documents
US9107690
- Application Number
- US13307750A
- Filing Date
- Nov 30, 2011
- Publication Date
- Aug 18, 2015
- External Links
- Slate, USPTO , Google Patents