Drop-In Instrumentation Core for Ergonomic Robotic Surgical Tools
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing robotic surgical systems face challenges in providing intuitive and efficient control over minimally invasive surgical instruments, particularly in maintaining natural hand movements and accessing hard-to-reach spaces during procedures like bronchoscopy, ureteroscopy, and laparoscopy, with limitations in flexibility and ergonomic operation.
Innovation Solution
A robotic surgical tool with a stage assembly and core assembly that includes a lead screw, spline, nut, and drive gear system, allowing for removably mountable components and enhanced articulation, along with a shroud assembly for protection and positioning, enabling improved control and access to surgical sites.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If robotic systems use complex mechanical mechanisms and drive cables to manipulate end effectors, then the system can achieve precise control and multiple degrees of freedom, but the system complexity increases and ergonomic operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The surgical tool is divided into separable components: a handle assembly that interfaces with the robotic system and a core assembly that can be independently configured. This segmentation allows the complex robotic control system to be separated from the simpler surgical instrument, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining automated control capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The core assembly is designed to be dynamically reconfigurable, allowing different instrument cores to be exchanged based on surgical needs. This dynamic adaptability reduces the need for complex fixed mechanical mechanisms, as the system can adapt its functionality through component exchange rather than complex reconfiguration.
2Length of moving object
If the surgical tool uses a long shaft to separate the end effector from the handle, then minimally invasive access is enabled, but the control precision and intuitive operation deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
By separating the handle assembly from the core assembly, the system maintains the necessary shaft length for minimally invasive access while allowing the handle to be optimally designed for control. The handle can be positioned ergonomically outside the patient's body while the core assembly with end effector operates within the surgical site, preserving both length requirements and control intuitiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The robotic system acts as an intermediary between the surgeon's manual control inputs and the end effector operations. The handle assembly serves as the interface where the surgeon provides intuitive control, and the robotic system translates these inputs to the distal end effector, maintaining control precision despite the long shaft separation.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the robotic system includes a wrist joint for natural hand articulation, then access to hard-to-reach spaces is improved, but the device complexity and difficulty of operation increase
Solution Approach 1:
The wrist joint is designed with dynamic degrees of freedom that can be activated as needed during the procedure. Rather than a permanently complex multi-axial joint, the system provides articulated movement capability that can be engaged when access to hard-to-reach spaces is required, reducing the baseline complexity while maintaining adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The core assembly with its articulated wrist joint is designed to perform multiple functions: it can operate in straight-line configurations for simple access, and deploy articulated movements for complex anatomical regions. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate specialized tools, simplifying the overall system while maintaining versatility.
4Measurement precision
If multiple drive cables and mechanical mechanisms are used to control the end effector, then precise manipulation is achieved, but the loss of time for system operation and reconfiguration increases
Solution Approach 1:
The separable core assembly design allows pre-configured instrument modules to be exchanged rather than reconfigured in place. Each core assembly can be prepared with its drive cables and mechanisms pre-assembled and tested, reducing the time required for system reconfiguration while maintaining precise control capability through the modular interface.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances the ability to perform minimally invasive procedures with improved ergonomic operation, enhanced imaging, and intuitive control, allowing single-user operation and reduced awkward arm motions, while providing enhanced access to complex anatomical regions.
Implementation Method 1
a lead screw and at least one spline extendable between first and second ends of the stage assembly, and a nut rotatably mounted to the lead screw to translate between the first and second ends upon rotation of the lead screw
Implementation Method 2
a drive gear coupled to the at least one spline and rotatable with rotation of the at least one spline, wherein the drive gear is slidable on the at least one spline
Data Source
AI summary
A surgical tool includes a stage portion that includes opposing first and second ends, a lead screw and at least one spline that extend between the first and second ends, and a first layer of a carriage movably mounted to the lead screw and the at least one spline. An instrument portion is releasably coupled to the stage portion and includes one or more additional layers of the carriage removably coupled to the first layer, and an elongate shaft extending distally from the one or more additional layers and having an end effector arranged at a distal end of the elongate shaft. The elongate shaft and the end effector penetrate the elevator layer and the first end when the instrument portion is coupled to the stage portion.