ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 6 -- United States Patent no. 12,376,872, issued on Aug. 5, was assigned to Covidien LP (Mansfield, Mass.).
"Drive mechanisms for surgical instruments" was invented by Zachary S. Heiliger (Nederland, Colo.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A surgical instrument for use with a robotic surgical system includes a knife blade configured to cut tissue and a knife tube coupled to the knife blade and configured to translate to move the knife blade for cutting tissue. The surgical instrument also includes a gearbox assembly coupleable to a robotic surgical system and configured to translate the knife tube to move the knife blade for cutting tissue and a knife blade lock operably co...