Robotic Surgical Tool Holder With Adaptive Gripper and Dual Outputs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current robotic surgical systems are limited in their ability to effectively utilize both proprietary and off-the-shelf surgical tools, often requiring a full range of expensive tools and struggling to accommodate tools with different power and size requirements, such as high speed and low torque, or low speed and high torque, and reciprocation needs.
Innovation Solution
A robotic surgical tool holder that can detachably mount on a surgical robotic arm, featuring a drive train to selectively couple with either a tool gripper mechanism or a tool driver mechanism, allowing it to hold and operate both off-the-shelf and proprietary tools, with a gripper mechanism that adjusts to different tool sizes and a drive mechanism that provides rotational motion and torque as needed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a robotic surgical system uses proprietary tools designed for specific tool holders, then the system can provide optimized robotic control and operation, but the system loses the ability to use conventional off-the-shelf surgical tools and requires expensive specialized tooling
Solution Approach 1:
The tool holder is designed with a universal interface that can accommodate both proprietary robotic tools and conventional off-the-shelf surgical tools. The housing includes a tool receiving opening that accepts various tool types, and the gripper mechanism can adapt to different tool geometries, enabling one device to perform multiple functions with different tool categories
2Adaptability or versatility
If the system uses conventional off-the-shelf surgical tools with manual operation, then the system reduces cost and increases tool availability, but the robot cannot provide powered control and precise operation
Solution Approach 1:
The tool holder incorporates a dynamic gripper mechanism that can adjust its gripping force and configuration based on the specific tool being held. The opposed bodies with tapered grooves can rotate to accommodate different tool diameters and shapes, allowing the system to adapt from holding manual tools to providing powered control when appropriate
3Adaptability or versatility
If the tool holder uses a fixed gripper mechanism, then the structure is simple and reliable, but it cannot accommodate tools of different sizes and types
Solution Approach 1:
The gripper mechanism features opposed bodies that can rotate relative to each other around the tool axis. The tapered grooves on these opposed bodies allow them to conform to different tool diameters and shapes. This dynamic adjustment capability enables the gripper to accommodate various tool sizes while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure
Solution Approach 2:
The gripper is divided into separate opposed bodies that can move independently relative to each other. This segmentation allows each body to be optimized for gripping while providing flexibility to accommodate different tool geometries through their relative motion and rotation
4Adaptability or versatility
If the system requires a full range of conventional surgical power tools with different power and speed characteristics, then the system can meet diverse surgical application needs, but the cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The tool holder system provides a universal platform that can interface with different categories of tools (manual and powered). By using a single adaptable tool holder design rather than multiple specialized holders, the system can cover diverse surgical applications including drilling, screw insertion, and sawing without requiring separate dedicated tooling for each application type
Data Source
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AI summary
A robotic surgical tool holder interchangeably hold both conventional surgical tools and surgical tools designed specifically for the holder. The tool holder will usually hold but not drive the conventional tools while both holding and driving those tools designed specifically for the tool holder. The tool holder is detachably mounted on a distal end of a surgical robotic arm and has an opening which removably receives individual surgical tools of either type. A drive train in the housing has one input which is driven by the surgical robotic arm and separate outputs for both a tool gripper and a tool driver.