Actuatable Tailpiece Assembly for Hand-Like Robotic Surgical Articulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing robotic surgical systems face challenges in providing enhanced maneuverability and ease of use during minimally invasive procedures, particularly in maintaining natural hand-like articulation and reducing the need for awkward arm motions by surgeons.
Innovation Solution
The development of actuatable tailpiece assemblies for surgical tools that allow manual manipulation, combined with a robotic system featuring cart-based and table-based configurations, enabling enhanced imaging and guidance, and allowing instruments to be controlled by a single user with improved ergonomic positioning and reduced clutter in the operating room.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If robotic systems use cable driven motion systems with multiple drive cables to achieve natural hand-like articulation and degrees of freedom, then the end effector can be articulated to desired angular positions, but the system complexity and device clutter in the operating room increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the articulation function from the complex cable-driven wrist system and relocates it to the tailpiece assembly. The tailpiece includes articulation mechanisms that can be manually manipulated to achieve the desired hand-like articulation without requiring the full cable-driven system to be present, thereby reducing device complexity while maintaining versatility.
Solution Approach 2:
The surgical instrument is divided into separate functional modules: the main instrument body, the tailpiece assembly, and the cable-driven wrist system. The tailpiece can be independently manipulated to provide articulation, allowing the surgeon to perform certain functions without engaging the complex wrist mechanism, thus reducing overall system complexity during specific procedures.
2Measurement precision
If robotic systems require multiple controllers and tool drivers to operate the end effector, then precise control is achieved, but the ease of operation decreases due to the need for multiple user inputs
Solution Approach 1:
The tailpiece assembly combines multiple control functions into a single manually manipulatable component. The surgeon can directly manipulate the tailpiece to control end effector articulation, merging the functions of multiple controllers and tool drivers into one intuitive interface, thereby improving ease of operation while maintaining control precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The tailpiece is designed to be self-contained with its own articulation mechanisms that can be directly manipulated by the surgeon without requiring external robotic control systems. This self-service capability allows the surgeon to independently control certain functions, reducing the cognitive load and complexity of coordinating multiple controllers.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the surgical instrument includes an articulable wrist joint with multiple drive cables, then more degrees of freedom in movement are achieved, but the physical strain on the surgeon increases due to awkward arm motions
Solution Approach 1:
The tailpiece serves as an intermediary mechanism between the surgeon's hand and the end effector. By providing a manually manipulatable articulation system at the tailpiece, the surgeon can achieve the desired degrees of freedom without needing to perform awkward arm motions required by the cable-driven wrist system, thereby reducing physical strain while maintaining versatility.
Data Source
AI summary
A robotic surgical tool includes a handle providing a plurality of drive inputs, an elongate shaft including a plurality of sliding rack gears movably nested within a corresponding plurality of longitudinal channels defined along the shaft, and an end effector arranged at a distal end of the shaft and an articulable wrist interposing the end effector and the distal end. An actuation system housed in the handle actuates the drive inputs to move the sliding rack gears and thereby causes operation of at least one of the end effector and the wrist. A tailpiece is arranged at a proximal end of the shaft and is operably coupled to the sliding rack gears, the tailpiece includes a housing and a manual actuation device mounted to the housing and manually actuatable to act on the sliding rack gears and thereby operate at least one of the end effector and the wrist.