COMBINATION ULTRASONIC AND ELECTROSURGICAL INSTRUMENT WITH A PRODUCTION CLAMP FORCE BASED ULTRASONIC SEAL PROCESS AND RELATED METHODS.

摘要

An ultrasonic surgical instrument (12) and method of sealing a tissue based on a production clamp force includes determining an ultrasonic seal process with the controller (46) based on the production clamp force between an upper jaw and a lower jaw of an end effector (20) and activating the ultrasonic energy or RF energy according to the determined ultrasonic seal process. The ultrasonic surgical instrument (12) further includes an end effector (20) having an ultrasonic blade (28), a jaw, an RF electrode (30), and a controller (46). The jaw is movably positioned relative to the ultrasonic blade (28) and configured to move between an open position and a closed position and clamp together with a production clamp force in the closed position. The controller (46) operatively connects to the ultrasonic blade (28) and the RF electrode (30) and includes the ultrasonic seal process based on the production clamp force stored thereon for driving the ultrasonic blade (28) or the RF electrode (30).