Surgical apparatus permitting recharge of battery-driven surgical instrument in noncontact state

Abstract

A surgical instrument can be disinfected or sterilized, and has a rechargeable secondary battery incorporated therein. A distal treatment section of the surgical instrument is ultrasonically oscillated using the secondary battery as a driving power source and used to perform surgery on a living tissue. Electromagnetic energy generated by an energy generation unit located outside the surgical instrument is received by a reception coil incorporated in the surgical instrument with the surgical instrument held in noncontact with the energy generation unit. The electromagnetic energy is then converted into charging power with which the secondary battery is recharged. Thus, the surgical instrument can be readily recharged while left clean.

What is claimed:  
     
         1 . An ultrasonic treatment instrument, comprising: 
 an ultrasonic transducer which generates ultrasonic waves and a drive circuit therefor;    a battery to supply energy, including to the drive circuit;    a housing incorporating the ultrasonic transducer, the battery and the drive circuit;    a probe having a distal end protruding from the housing and a part that is coupled with the ultrasonic transducer so that the ultrasonic waves are propagated by the probe outside the housing;    a movable member operable by an operator; and    a sensor circuit which detects movement of the movable member, and    wherein the drive circuit is structured to drive the ultrasonic transducer responsive to an output signal of the sensor circuit.    
     
     
         2 . An ultrasonic treatment instrument according to  claim 1 , 
 wherein the sensor circuit is composed of a switch which is actuated by the movement of the movable member.    
     
     
         3 . An ultrasonic treatment instrument according to  claim 2 , further comprising a second switch for supplying energy from the battery to the drive circuit.  
     
     
         4 . An ultrasonic treatment instrument according to  claim 1 , wherein the sensor circuit is configured to detect the magnitude of a clamping force generated by the movable member, and to transmit an output signal corresponding to the clamping force to the drive circuit.  
     
     
         5 . An ultrasonic treatment instrument according to  claim 1 , 
 wherein the sensor circuit is configured to detect the magnitude of a torque developed by the movable member, and to transmit an output signal corresponding to the torque to the drive circuit.    
     
     
         6 . The ultrasonic treatment instrument of  claim 5 , wherein the sensor circuit comprises a torque sensor embedded within an axis of rotation associated with the movable member.  
     
     
         7 . The ultrasonic treatment instrument of  claim 6 , in which the torque sensor comprises a strain gage.  
     
     
         8 . The ultrasonic treatment instrument of  claim 1 , in which the sensor circuit comprises an electrical capacitance force detector.  
     
     
         9 . The ultrasonic treatment instrument of  claim 1 , in which the sensor circuit comprises a piezoelectric element.  
     
     
         10 . An ultrasonic treatment instrument, comprising: 
 an ultrasonic transducer to generate ultrasonic waves and a drive circuit therefor;    a probe coupled to the ultrasonic transducer and having a portion which is positioned adjacent a movable part;    a movable member which is operable to move the movable part; and    a sensor circuit which detects movement of the movable member and which provides an output to the drive circuit of the ultrasonic transducer.