89 results about "Medical robotics" patented technology

A medical robotic system includes a surgical instrument, a robotic arm assembly, an input device, and a processor. The surgical instrument has an end effector and a sensor for sensing a force exerted by the end effector, and is operatively mounted on the robotic arm assembly. The processor is configured to receive commanded movement of the end effector from the input device, receive information of the force from the sensor, determine a reduced velocity of the commanded movement that would inhibit damage causing motion of the end effector, and control robotic manipulation of the surgical instrument in response to the commanded movement of the end effector while restricting the velocity of the commanded movement to the reduced velocity.

A medical robotic system comprises a number of components that may be monitored to determine their preventive maintenance needs by recording usage-related information for the monitored components into associated non-volatile memories. When usage of the component exceeds a specified usage threshold, the system displays a warning message on its display screen to have preventive maintenance performed for the component. If the usage continues without such maintenance and exceeds a higher usage threshold, the system displays an error message on its display screen and the system transitions into an error state during which medical procedures are not allowed to be performed. The usage-related information may also be communicated to a remote computer which gathers and processes usage-related information from a number of medical robotic systems to estimate resource requirements for timely performing preventive maintenance on the medical robotic systems, and anticipated service revenues from such maintenance.

A medical robotic system having non-ideal actuator-to-joint linkage characteristics, includes a control system including a proximal control loop with actuator sensor feedback to control dynamic response of an actuator coupled to a distal joint which in turn, is coupled to an end effector to provide a degree of freedom movement of the end effector, a distal control loop with distal joint sensor feedback and feedforward to the actuator to ensure steady-state convergence of the distal joint position, and an end effector control loop with end-point sensor feedback to control the end effector position to reach a commanded end effector position.

In a coupled control mode, the surgeon directly controls movement of an associated slave manipulator with an input device while indirectly controlling movement of one or more non-associated slave manipulators, in response to commanded motion of the directly controlled slave manipulator, to achieve a secondary objective. By automatically performing secondary tasks through coupled control modes, the system's usability is enhanced by reducing the surgeon's need to switch to another direct mode to manually achieve the desired secondary objective. Thus, coupled control modes allow the surgeon to better focus on performing medical procedures and to pay less attention to managing the system.

A multi-user medical robotic system for collaboration or training in minimally invasive surgical procedures includes first and second master input devices, a first slave robotic mechanism, and at least one processor configured to generate a first slave command for the first slave robotic mechanism by switchably using one or both of a first command indicative of manipulation of the first master input device by a first user and a second command indicative of manipulation of the second master input device by a second user. To facilitate the collaboration or training, both first and second users communicate with each other through an audio system and see the minimally invasive surgery site on first and second displays respectively viewable by the first and second users.

The invention relates generally to robotically controlled systems, such as medical robotic systems. In one variation, a robotic catheter system is configured with a sterile barrier capable for transmitting a rotary force from a drive system on one side of the barrier to surgical tool on the other side of the sterile barrier for performing minimally invasive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Modularized drive systems for robotics arc also disclosed herein.

A medical robotic system includes an entry guide with articulatable instruments such as surgical tools and a camera extending out of its distal end. The camera instrument is manipulatable by a camera manipulator, which has a first mechanism for pivoting a focal point of the camera instrument about a pivot of the camera instrument and a second mechanism for positioning the pivot within a three-dimensional space in response to translational commands received from one or a coupled pair of input devices. The system also includes a controller which is configured to receive sensed movement of the input devices, and cause actuation of the first mechanism in response to the sensed movement if the system is in an orientational mode and cause actuation of the second mechanism in response to the sensed movement if the system is in a translational mode.

A medical robotic system includes an entry guide with surgical tools and a camera extending out of its distal end. To supplement the view provided by an image captured by the camera, an auxiliary view including articulatable arms of the surgical tools and / or camera is generated from sensed or otherwise determined information about their positions and orientations and displayed on a display screen from the perspective of a specified viewing point.

A medical device used in a medical robotic system has a conduit and an orientable tip. An optical fiber coupled to a laser source and / or a catheter coupled to one or more biomaterial sources extends through the conduit and tip so that the tip of the medical device may be robotically directed towards a target tissue for laser and / or biomaterial application as part of a medical procedure performed at a surgical site within a patient. A protective sheath covers the fiber as it extends through the conduit and tip. A first coupler adjustably secures at least the sheath to the medical device and a second coupler adjustably secures the fiber to at least the sheath. A similar dual coupler mechanism may be used to secure the sheathed catheter to the medical device.

A medical robotic system and method for controlling the system are provided to precisely measure contact force during the minimally invasive surgery. In one embodiment, a medical robotic system includes an input device, a robotic arm assembly, a surgical instrument operably coupled to the robotic arm assembly, the surgical instrument including a contact detection unit configured to detect a contact of the surgical instrument with tissue of a patient, a current measurement unit configured to measure a joint current in the robotic arm assembly, a position / velocity measurement unit configured to measure a joint position and a joint velocity in the robotic arm assembly, an external force calculation unit configured to calculate size and direction of a contact force caused by the contact of the surgical instrument to the tissue based on the joint currents, positions and velocities measured when the contact is occurred and measured when the contact is not occurred.

An instrument that facilitates bending with large degrees of articulation while maintaining ease of manufacturing for medical and surgical applications is discussed.

An instrument that facilitates bending with large degrees of articulation while maintaining ease of manufacturing for medical and surgical applications is discussed.

To perform a tool exchange in a medical robotic system, tool is retracted back into an entry guide from a deployed position and pose so that an assistant in the operating room may replace it with a different tool. While the tool is being retracted back towards the entry guide by user action, its configuration is changed to an entry pose while avoiding collisions with other objects so that it may fit in the entry guide. After the tool exchange is completed, a new tool is inserted in the entry guide and extended out of the guide by user action to the original position of the old tool prior to its retraction into the entry guide while the tool's controller assists the user by reconfiguring the new tool so as to resemble the original deployed pose of the old tool prior to its retraction into the entry guide.

An instrument that facilitates bending with large degrees of articulation while maintaining ease of manufacturing for medical and surgical applications is discussed.

A medical robotic system has a surgeon console which is operatively couplable to a patient side unit for performing medical procedures or operatively couplable to a simulator unit for training purposes. The surgeon console has a monitor, input devices and foot pedals. The patient side unit has robotic arm assemblies coupled to instruments and an endoscope. When the surgeon console is coupled to the patient side unit, the instruments move in response to movement of the input devices to perform a medical procedure while captured images of the instruments are displayed on the monitor. When the surgeon console is coupled to the simulator unit, virtual instruments move in response to movement of the input devices to perform a user selected virtual procedure while virtual images of the virtual instruments are displayed on the monitor.