Endoscopic surgical system with sensing means

Claim 1

A stapling instrument for use in an endoscopic procedure comprising: a head portion, a handle portion and a connecting portion connecting said head portion to said handle portion; said head portion comprising means for holding a cartridge of staples, firing means for ejecting staples from said cartridge and anvil means to form said staples, said anvil means being disposed in relationship to said cartridge holding means to allow tissue to be disposed between said cartridge and said anvil means; a rotatable shaft disposed in said connecting portion; converting means disposed at one end of said rotatable shaft and connecting said firing means to said shaft to convert the motion of the shaft into a force to eject said staples from the cartridge and form said staples in the tissue, means disposed at the other end of said rotatable shaft for rotating said shaft, a first sensing means disposed in said head portion for detecting a physical property of the tissue placed between said cartridge and said anvil means, a second sensing means for detecting the force used to eject and form the staples; and control means interconnected to both said first and second sensing means to control the ejection and formation of the staples.