94 results about "Surgical manipulator" patented technology

A robotic surgical system includes a sterile surgical instrument, a robotic surgical manipulator, and a sterile drape covering at least a portion of the robotic surgical manipulator. The surgical instrument has a proximal interface and a distal end effector. The proximal interface includes a gimbal assembly with two intersecting rotational axes coupled to the distal end effector. The robotic surgical manipulator has a drive plate that bears against the gimbal assembly. The drive plate has two degrees of rotational freedom about a center of motion that is coincident with an intersection of the axes of the gimbal assembly. The sterile drape includes a sterile sheet covers at least a portion of the robotic surgical manipulator, a frame bonded to the sterile sheet, an instrument interface that covers the drive plate of the robotic surgical manipulator, and a diaphragm that connects the instrument interface to the frame.

A surgical manipulator (10) can manipulate a medical tool (12) with one or more degrees of freedom. In preferred embodiments, the manipulator (10) is a parallel mechanism including a plurality of arms (21, 22) pivotally supporting a medical tool (12), with the orientation of the medical tool (12) being adjusted by varying the position of joints (23, 24) mounted on the arms (21, 22). The motions of the joints (23, 24) can be controlled such that the tool (12) is pivoted about a virtual pivot point located within the body wall of a patient (30). The manipulator (10) can enhance the dexterity of an operator and enable the operator to perform medical procedures more easily than by hand.

The present invention provides a surgical manipulator including a manipulator arm, an end-effector held by the robotic arm, surgical tools held by the end-effector and manipulator joints, particularly right-angle drive devices for transmitting rotational motion in one axis to a perpendicular axis.

A navigation system for use with a surgical manipulator operable in manual or semi-autonomous modes. The navigation system includes a tracker for attaching to the patient and a localizer to receive signals from the tracker or transmit signals to the tracker. The navigation system includes a navigation processor that runs a plurality of software modules.

Devices, systems, and methods are disclosed for cancelling movement one or more joints of a tele-surgical manipulator to effect manipulation movement of an end effector. Methods include calculating movement of joints within a null-perpendicular space to effect desired end effector movement while calculating movement of one or more locked joints within a null-space to cancel the movement of the locked joints within the null-perpendicular-space. Methods may further include calculating movement of one or more joints to effect an auxiliary movement or a reconfiguration movement that may include movement of one or more locked joints. The auxiliary and reconfiguration movements may overlay the manipulation movement of the joints to allow movement of the locked joints to effect the auxiliary movement or reconfiguration movement, while the movement of the locked joints to effect manipulation is canceled. Various configurations for devices and systems utilizing such methods are provided herein.

The present invention provides a surgical manipulator including a manipulator arm, an end-effector held by the robotic arm, surgical tools held by the end-effector and manipulator joints, particularly right-angle drive devices for transmitting rotational motion in one axis to a perpendicular axis.

Robotic and / or surgical devices, systems, and methods include kinematic linkage structures and associated control systems configured to facilitate preparation of the system for use. One or more kinematic linkage sub-systems may include joints that are actively driven, passive, or a mix of both. A set-up mode employs an intuitive user interface in which one or more joints are initially held static by a brake or joint drive system. The user may articulate the joint(s) by manually pushing against the linkage with a force, torque, or the like that exceeds a manual articulation threshold. Articulation of the moving joints is facilitated by modifying the signals transmitted to the brake or drive system. The system may sense completion of the reconfiguration from a velocity of the joint(s) falling below a threshold, optionally for a desired dwell time. The system may provide a detent-like manual articulation that is not limited to mechanically pre-defined detent joint configurations. Embodiments of the invention provide, and can be particularly well-suited for manual movement of a platform supporting a plurality of surgical manipulators in a robotic surgical system or the like without having to add additional input devices.

The present invention generally relates to surgical devices, systems, and methods, especially for minimally invasive surgery, and more particularly provides structures and techniques for aligning a robotic surgery system with a desired surgical site. The present invention describes techniques for mounting, configuring and arranging set-up arms for the surgical manipulators and endoscope drive mechanisms of a telesurgical system within an operating theater. The various aspects of the invention improve and optimize space utilization in the conduct of a surgical procedure, especially in the telesurgical systems which provide for concurrent operation by two surgeons using multiple robotic arm assemblies. In one aspect, the invention includes a method and apparatus for ceiling-height mounting of surgical set-up arms, and in another aspect, the invention includes a method and apparatus for the mounting of surgical setup arms to the table pedestal or floor below an operating table. The ceiling-height-mounted robotic arm assembly and below-table-mounted robotic arm assembly may be pre-configured to be ready for surgery while the fixable set-up arms are disposed generally clear of the personnel-usable space adjacent the operating table. Examples are described of separate and combined use of the ceiling mount and floor / pedestal mount aspects in both single and dual surgeon telesurgical systems.

A robotic control system is placed in clutch mode so that a slave manipulator holding a surgical instrument is temporarily disengaged from control by a master manipulator in order to allow manual positioning of the surgical instrument at a surgical site within a patient. Control systems implemented in a processor compensate for internally generated frictional and inertial resistance experienced during the positioning, thereby making movement more comfortable to the mover, and stabler from a control standpoint. Each control system drives a joint motor in the slave manipulator with a saturated torque command signal which has been generated to compensate for non-linear viscous forces, coulomb friction, cogging effects, and inertia forces subjected to the joint, using estimated joint angular velocities, accelerations and externally applied torques generated by an observer in the control system from sampled displacement measurements received from a sensor associated with the joint.

A surgical manipulator includes an internal working end having an internal joint, and an external control interface linked to the internal working end for controlling the internal working end. The external control interface includes at least one lever defining a grip volume for a surgeon's hand when gripping and operating the at least one lever, and an external joint linked to the internal joint for controlling the internal joint. The external joint is positioned substantially within the grip volume.

Devices, systems, and methods for reconfiguring a surgical manipulator by moving the manipulator within a null-space of a kinematic Jacobian of the manipulator arm. In one aspect, in response to receiving a reconfiguration command, the system drives a first set of joints and calculates velocities of the plurality of joints to be within a null-space. The joints are driven according to the reconfiguration command and the calculated movement so as to maintain a desired state of the end effector or a remote center about which an instrument shaft pivots. In another aspect, the joints are also driven according to a calculated end effector or remote center displacing velocities within a null-perpendicular-space of the Jacobian so as to effect the desired reconfiguration concurrently with a desired movement of the end effector or remote center.

The invention aims to provide a robot-assisted multifunctional instrument arm for minimally invasive surgery. The robot-assisted multifunctional instrument arm for minimally invasive surgery is composed of a master control case, a tail end position adjusting mechanism and a tail end posture adjusting mechanism, wherein a case body, an industrial control computer, a host and other equipment are installed in the master control case and used for controlling a whole movement system; the tail end position adjusting mechanism is composed of an active lifting joint and three passive rotating joints and mainly used for adjusting the position of a tail end control point; the tail end posture adjusting mechanism is composed of two active rotating joints and used for adjusting the posture of the point after the position of the tail end control point is determined. The robot-assisted multifunctional instrument arm for minimally invasive surgery has the advantages of having active and passive freedom degree and being capable of positioning a tail end surgical instrument and adjusting the posture of the tail end surgical instrument, the mechanism is good in movement stability and flexibility, and accuracy of tail end movement is high; a mounting platform at the tail end of the mechanism can be provided with a laparoscope or other micro surgery instruments such as surgical manipulator, and therefore an image acquisition system or a surgery operation executing system is formed.

Devices, systems, and methods for cancelling movement one or more joints of a tele-surgical manipulator to effect manipulation movement of an end effector. Methods include calculating movement of joints within a null-perpendicular space to effect desired end effector movement while calculating movement of one or more locked joints within a null-space to cancel the movement of the locked joints within the null-perpendicular-space. Methods may further include calculating movement of one or more joints to effect an auxiliary movement or a reconfiguration movement that may include movement of one or more locked joints. The auxiliary and reconfiguration movements may be overlaid the manipulation movement of the joints to allow movement of the locked joints to effect the auxiliary movement or reconfiguration movement, while the movement of the locked joints to effect manipulation is canceled. Various configurations for devices and systems utilizing such methods are provided herein.

The invention is directed to mainpulator assembly (2) for holding and manipulating a surgical instrument (14) in a telerobotic system. The assembly comprises a base (6) fixable by passive or power driven positioning devices to a surface, such as an operating table, and an instrument holder (4) movably mounted on the base. The instrument holder comprises a chassis (6) and an instrument support (70) movably mounted on the body and having an interface engageable with the surgical instrument to releasably mount the instrument to the instrument holder. A drive assembly (7) is operatively coupled to the instrument holder for providing the instrument with at least two degrees of freedom. The instrument holder is separable from the base and the drive assembly so that the holder can be sterilized. The assembly further includes a force sensing element (52) mounted distal to the holder and the drive assembly for detecting forces exerted on the surgical instrument and providing feedback to the surgeon. The assembly is attached to a remote center positioner (300) for constraining the instrument to rotate a point coincident with the entry incision and an inclinometer (350) for preventing gravitational forces acting on the system's mechanisms from being felt by the surgeon.

The invention discloses a capacitive touch sensor having a patterned microstructure array. The capacitive touch sensor is formed by fingerprint-shaped surface micro-protrusion, an upper capacitive electrode substrate, an upper capacitive electrode, a two-dimensional sine micro-protrusion dielectric layer, a lower capacitive electrode and a lower capacitive electrode substrate which are laminated from the top to the bottom in turn. The fingerprint-shaped surface micro-protrusion is used for receiving external force stimulation. The upper and lower capacitive electrode substrates are used as structural support. The series connection direction of the electrode pole pieces of the upper and lower capacitive electrodes are orthogonally arranged, and the upper and lower capacitive electrodes and the two-dimensional sine micro-protrusion dielectric layer form the capacitor body of the sensor together. After the upper surface of the fingerprint-shaped surface micro-protrusion is affected by external force stimulation, the change of capacitance is sensed by the capacitor body and the size and the direction of the force are acquired through conversion. The problem of high sensitivity real-time detection of the sensor for multidimensional force can be solved, and the sensor can be applied to the field of artificial limbs and surgical manipulators having high requirement of sensitivity.

A surgical manipulator for manipulating a surgical instrument and an energy applicator extending from the surgical instrument. The surgical manipulator further includes at least one controller configured to determine a commanded pose to which the energy applicator is advanced, wherein the commanded pose is determined based on a summation of a plurality of force and torque signals.

A surgical manipulator comprising: a master module configured to be controlled by a user; a slave module configured to move according to movement of the master module; and a transmission module comprising gears and configured to operably connect the master module and the slave module.

The invention provides a six-dimensional force sense sensor for a minimally invasive surgical robot. The six-dimensional force sense sensor comprises two cross-shaped-shaped beam elastic bodies, two baffles and an elastic body substrate, wherein arc I-shaped holes which are orthogonally distributed are formed in the cross-shaped beam elastic bodies respectively, the elastic bodies are installed at the head end and the tail end of the elastic body substrate in a clearance fit mode in the direction of strut beams stretched out of cross-shaped beams, and the elastic bodies are fixed by the two baffles. Four strain gauges are pasted on each of the four strut beams of each elastic body cross-shaped beam and used for measuring corresponding force or force torque, the four strain gauges on each strut beam form an equal-arm full bridge circuit, four signal lines are led from each equal-arm full bridge circuit and bundled into one bundle after being wrapped by a heat shrink tube in a hot shrinkage mode, and then the bundle is led out of a mechanical hand through a mechanical hand hollow metal round rod from space regions among the cross-shaped beam strum beams. The sensor is installed at the position close to an end effector of the minimally invasive surgical mechanical hand and measures six-dimensional force sense components, and the negative influence of the friction of the mechanical hand and an incision on data measured by the sensor is avoided.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for registering three-dimensional ultrasound images to an external coordinate system, such as the coordinate system attached to a camera-based imaging system or the coordinate system used to define the movements of a surgical robot. The apparatus generally comprises a tool with markers that can be accurately and repeatably located in both the ultrasound and external coordinate systems. In the case of the surgical robot frame, this tool may be a component of the surgical robot itself, such as a portion of a surgical manipulator. The method generally comprises positioning the toot upon the surface of a portion of patient tissue, imaging the tool using the ultrasound, simultaneously imaging the tool using the camera system or monitoring the current mechanical configuration of the surgical robot, localizing corresponding tool elements in both frames, and finally using the corresponding elements as registration fiducials to solve the geometric transformation that relates the two frames.

Robotic system and method for positioning an energy applicator extending from a surgical instrument. The robotic system includes a surgical manipulator operable in a manual mode or a semi-autonomous mode. The surgical manipulator moves the energy applicator along a tool path in the semi-autonomous mode, monitors output of a force / torque sensor as the energy applicator moves along the tool path, and reorients the surgical instrument based on the output in response to a user applying reorienting forces and torques to the surgical instrument.

Robotic and / or surgical devices, systems, and methods include kinematic linkage structures and associated control systems configured to facilitate preparation of the system for use. One or more kinematic linkage sub-systems may include joints that are actively driven, passive, or a mix of both. A set-up mode employs an intuitive user interface in which one or more joints are initially held static by a brake or joint drive system. The user may articulate the joint(s) by manually pushing against the linkage with a force, torque, or the like that exceeds a manual articulation threshold. Articulation of the moving joints is facilitated by modifying the signals transmitted to the brake or drive system. The system may sense completion of the reconfiguration from a velocity of the joint(s) falling below a threshold, optionally for a desired dwell time. The system may provide a detent-like manual articulation that is not limited to mechanically pre-defined detent joint configurations. Embodiments of the invention provide, and can be particularly well-suited for manual movement of a platform supporting a plurality of surgical manipulators in a robotic surgical system or the like without having to add additional input devices.

Surgical Manipulator A surgical manipulator (10) is disclosed which employs a suction cup (30) to hold body parts (50) whilst the manipulator is moved to manipulate the body part (50). Suction at the cup (30) is provided by means of a central passage (16) running through an extension (20) and through a handle part (14) to a vacuum connector (12). The suction at the cup (30) can be adjusted by a slider (15) which adjustably opens the passage (16) to atmosphere. Needles (58) and the like can be introduced into the passage (16) and thereby into the body part (50). For laparoscopic surgery the manipulator can be introduced into a laparoscopic port (52) by collapsing the suction cup (30) within an introducer sleeve (22 Fig 3). The introducer sleeve (22) can act as a suction device when the cup (30) is collapsed within it. The needle (58) can be replaced by a diathermy electrode (60 Fig 6) and irrigation is possible using an additional supply tube (121 Figure 4).