US Patent 10420577 Apparatus and method for tissue thickness sensing

A surgical instrument is provided. The surgical instrument includes: a test end effector including a test jaw assembly having a pair of jaws configured to clamp about tissue and at least one sensor configured to measure at least one tissue property; and a handle assembly configured to couple to the treatment end effector. The handle assembly includes: a drive assembly; a motor operatively coupled to the drive assembly; and a controller operatively coupled to the motor, the controller configured to control operation of the motor to actuate the test end effector to measure the at least one tissue property and to determine, based on the at least one tissue property, at least one suitable treatment end effector.