665 results about "Hand wrist" patented technology

Surgical tools having a two degree-of-freedom wrist, wrist articulation by linked tension members, mechanisms for transmitting torque through an angle, and minimally invasive surgical tools incorporating these features are disclosed. An elongate intermediate wrist member is pivotally coupled with a distal end of an instrument shaft so as to rotate about a first axis transverse to the shaft, and an end effector body is pivotally coupled with the intermediate member so as to rotate about a second axis that is transverse to the first axis. Linked tension members interact with attachment features to articulate the wrist. A torque-transmitting mechanism includes a coupling member, coupling pins, a drive shaft, and a driven shaft. The drive shaft is coupled with the driven shaft so as to control the relative orientations of the drive shaft, the coupling member, and the driven shaft.

The present invention is directed to a tool having a wrist mechanism that provides pitch and yaw rotation in such a way that the tool has no singularity in roll, pitch, and yaw. In one embodiment, a minimally invasive surgical instrument comprises an elongate shaft having a working end, a proximal end, and a shaft axis between the working end and the proximal end; and an end effector. A wrist member has a flexible tube including an axis extending through an interior surrounded by a wall. The wall of the flexible tube includes a plurality of lumens oriented generally parallel to the axis of the flexible tube. The wrist member has a proximal portion connected to the working end of the elongate shaft and a distal portion connected to the end effector. A plurality of actuation cables have distal portions connected to the end effector and extend from the distal portion through the lumens of the wall of the wrist member toward the elongate shaft to proximal portions which are actuatable to bend the wrist member in pitch rotation and yaw rotation.

The invention relates to an arm exoskeleton comprising a moving system of joints placed in parallel with the joints of the human arm, the exoskeleton comprising a shoulder exoskeleton, an elbow exoskeleton, and a wrist exoskeleton. In all, the exoskeleton has sixteen joints providing sixteen degrees of freedom. A support worn on the torso of a human operator comprises a rigid front plate and a rigid back plate. The shoulder exoskeleton has its proximal end fixed to the front plate, whereby the front plate provides a fixed reference for all movements of the exoskeleton, and the wrist exoskeleton is fixed to a rigid glove worn on the hand of the operator. Active joints are controlled by flexible cable tendons bridging the exoskeleton, said tendons themselves being actuated by control units disposed on the rigid back plate. Inflatable cushions prevent the wrist exoskeleton and the shoulder exoskeleton from moving relative to the arm of the operator. The invention is applicable in particular to remotely controlling a robot in space.

A surgical device includes an elongated shaft, an end effector, and a wrist assembly. The wrist assembly includes a first outer link, a first inner link, and a second outer link. The first outer link is connected to the shaft and includes first gear teeth. The first inner link is pivotally coupled with the first outer link. The second outer link is pivotally coupled with the first inner link. The second outer link includes second gear teeth that interface with the first gear teeth and control orientation of the first inner link relative to the first outer link and the first outer link throughout a range of orientations of the wrist assembly.

A method and apparatus for determining the mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) of a subject during tonometric conditions. In one embodiment, the apparatus comprises one or more pressure and ultrasound transducers placed over the radial artery of a human subject's wrist, the latter transmitting and receiving acoustic energy so as to permit the measurement of blood velocity during periods of variable compression of the artery. During compression, the ultrasound velocity waveforms are recorded and processed using time-frequency analysis. The time at which the mean time-frequency distribution is maximal corresponds to the time at which the transmural pressure equals zero, and the mean pressure read by the transducer equals the mean pressure within the artery. In another aspect of the invention, the ultrasound transducer is used to position the transducer over the artery such that the accuracy of the measurement is maximized. In yet another aspect of the invention, a wrist brace useful for measuring blood pressure using the aforementioned apparatus is disclosed. A method of continuously estimating systolic and diastolic pressure is also described.

A wrist support includes a first section for receiving a forearm, a second section for receiving a hand, and a bridging section spanning a wrist and connecting the first and second sections together. The bridging section is integrally formed with some portion of the first section or second section. The disposition of the second section relative to the first section is variable, for example, according to the tension in a tensioning line, wherein the tension may be adjusted by a rotary device.

An apparatus for exercising wrist and forearm muscles includes a hollow body, a resistance assembly, a pivot bracket and a grip assembly. The resistance assembly is mounted on the body to provide a resistance. The pivot bracket is pivotally mounted in the body and connects to the resistance assembly. The grip assembly is mounted in the pivot bracket between the arms and has a shaft mounted on the pivot bracket and a raised grip rotatably mounted on the shaft. The raised grip could be of a baseball configuration, a football configuration and so on to provide a large effective surface for gripping. Therefore, the raised grip is convenient and comfortable to grip while exercising wrist and forearm muscles.

An orthopedic wrist splint with an initially generally planar malleable metal core covered by a layer of synthetic foam padding material on each of its opposite sides and protected by an outer cover of fabric. In one embodiment, depending on the orientation of the splint relative to the patient, the splint provides greater or lesser firmness of support when the core is bent to conform the splint to the patient's hand, wrist, and forearm. In another embodiment, a central part of the length of the splint lacks the metal core and is flexible, so that two parts of the splint are easily used on opposite sides of an arm or ankle, with the central part comfortably bent around an elbow or a foot, and with the splint firmly supporting the limb.

The present invention is directed to a thermal covering that delivers consistent therapy to a portion of a user's hand-wrist area, is easy to use and apply to the body, and is securely positionable on the body. The thermal covering can be entirely disposable after one use. The thermal covering can also have a disposable component and a reusable component that can be packaged individually together as a kit.

A reversible wrist and thumb support is formed of a sleeve of resiliently stretchable material and includes an optionally detachable thumb support coupled to the sleeve. The thumb support includes a plurality of removable battens formed of a semi-rigid material and disposed along the posterior of a wearer's thumb. A resiliently deformable support pad is disposed on an underside of the splint and a removable stiffening semi-rigid batten that optionally includes padded surfaces, is disposed in a pocket on the top side of the support. The reversible wrist and thumb support may be worn on either the wearer's left or right hand, and the battens need not be removed when the reversible wrist and thumb support is turned inside-out.

A hand and wrist exerciser having an outer frame comprising left and right outer posts, upper and lower members connected to the left and right outer posts, and intermediate portion, configured such portion at an angle of less than 180 degrees with respect to the upper and lower members forming an arch thereby. The upper member has slots on the lower side thereof and the lower member has slots on the upper side thereof. A pair of gripping posts, slidably connected to the upper and lower members, have bars inserted therethrough which enable the gripping posts to slide toward the outer posts in one direction. Tension springs, located within the upper and lower members, hold each of the gripping posts toward the intermediate portion. This enables a user to place fingers around a gripping post with the base of the thumb held against an outer post and squeeze the gripping post toward the outer post for one exercise; then place the fingers of each hand between a gripping post and an outer post and move the hand wrist exerciser back-and-forth in a horizontal direction for another exercise. In one embodiment, the tension of the tension springs can be adjusted with adjusting screws located on both the upper and lower members.

A surgical apparatus system for minimally invasive surgery (MIS) which includes a wrist assembly. The wrist assembly includes a first jaw, a first actuation hub, and a cable redirecting hub operably coupled to the first actuation hub, a second jaw, a second actuation hub, a housing for the first and second jaws, a first cable, a second cable, a third cable, rotational position sensors, and a control system. The first and second jaws of the wrist assembly are movably opposed, and the cables are configured such that applying tensions upon them cables produces rotation about a jaw axis. The wrist assembly may further include a hinge-rotary assembly to configured to provide rotation about a pitch axis and / or a roll axis. The wrist assembly may further include a fourth cable configured such that applying tensions upon the fourth cable and the opposing cable produces rotation about a pitch axis.

The invention discloses a web database based online bone age calculating and height predicating method. The method comprises the following steps: dividing hand wrist and bone age level; recording thebase information of testing people; inputting shot hand and wrist X ray images; decoding bone data; calculating the bone age; and calculating the predicated height. The method is applicable to professors with evaluation experience; the works such as general sheet checking, recording and summing can be saved; a computer supports. Therefore, the repeating workload can be greatly decreased; the calculation accuracy is improved; various hand wrist bone development standard data can be stored on the basis of the web database, so that the completeness, the safety and the handleability of the data can be ensured; in addition, different predication results can be examined and compared based on different bone age evaluation standards during use; the web database is adopted, so that the characteristics of high efficiency and expandability are met while a new bone age evaluation standard is added; and the method is high in application and popularization value and economic benefit.

Features for a prosthetic wrist and associated methods of rotation are described. The prosthetic wrist attaches to a prosthetic hand. Rotation of the prosthetic wrist is performed in combination with grip formation of the prosthetic hand. An IMU provides data associated with the orientation of the prosthetic hand. A desired grip for the prosthetic hand is selected, for example by gesture control. A rotation for the prosthetic wrist is determined based on the orientation of the prosthetic hand from the IMU data and on the selected desired grip. The prosthetic wrist techniques can also be used in combination with prosthetic arms, elbows and / or shoulders. Example structural configurations for the prosthetic wrist and hand are also provided.

A forelimb brace device suitable for use by snowboarders, skiers, in-line skaters and others protects against hyperextension and other injuries, by maintaining a selected orientation of the fingers, hand, wrist and forearm within a substantially rigid shell assembly having a palmar arch grip element and tensioning elements for maintaining a selected tension of the palmer element across the users' hand and forearm. The forelimb is maintained in a flexed position, while an extension stop prevents hyperextension of the phalanges, and a thumb portion prevents abduction or opposition injuries to the thumb.