USPTO Patent US12582398B2: Cartridge Status Detection

ChangeBridge: Patent Grants - Diagnosis & Surgery (A61B)

Published March 24th, 2026

Detected March 24th, 2026

Summary

The USPTO has granted patent US12582398B2 to Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. for a method of detecting the status and presence of a surgical cartridge in an unfired condition within a surgical instrument. The patent details a system that commands movement of an actuation output and detects if the actuation amount meets a threshold, indicating the absence of a cartridge.

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What changed

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted patent US12582398B2 to Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. The patent covers a novel method and system for detecting whether a surgical instrument is missing a surgical cartridge in an unfired state. The invention involves commanding a specific movement of an actuation output and monitoring its actuation amount; if this amount reaches or exceeds a predefined threshold, the system determines that the surgical cartridge is absent.

This patent grant is primarily an intellectual property matter and does not impose new regulatory obligations on medical device manufacturers or healthcare providers. However, it signifies a technological advancement in surgical systems, potentially impacting future product development and design by Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. and competitors in the surgical robotics and instrument market. Compliance officers in the medical device sector should be aware of this patent as it relates to the design and functionality of surgical instruments.

Source document (simplified)

← USPTO Patent Grants

Cartridge status and presence detection

Grant US12582398B2 Kind: B2 Mar 24, 2026

Assignee

Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc.

Inventors

David W. Weir, Kevin Durant, William Burbank, Patrick Flanagan

Abstract

Surgical systems and related methods for detecting whether a surgical instrument lacks a surgical cartridge in an unfired condition. A method of detecting that a surgical instrument lacks a surgical cartridge in an unfired condition mounted to the surgical instrument includes commanding a movement of the actuation output in a direction opposite to a firing direction for the surgical cartridge, detecting that an actuation amount of the actuation output as a result of the commanded movement is at or above a threshold actuation amount, and in response to detecting that the actuation amount of the actuation output is at or above the threshold actuation amount, determining that the surgical instrument lacks a surgical cartridge in the unfired condition mounted to the surgical instrument.

CPC Classifications

A61B 2017/00039 A61B 2017/00398 A61B 2017/00477 A61B 2017/07271 A61B 2017/07285 A61B 2090/0804 A61B 2090/0808 A61B 50/13 A61B 34/30 A61B 34/37 A61B 17/07207