Hand Tracking System for Minimally Invasive Surgery Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current minimally invasive surgical systems lack effective hand tracking and gesture recognition technologies, leading to limitations in controlling surgical instruments with precision and ease, particularly in terms of hand presence detection and gesture interpretation.
Innovation Solution
A hand tracking system that uses sensor elements mounted on a surgeon's hand to generate control parameters for controlling teleoperated surgical instruments, including grip closure and motion recognition, allowing for precise control of end effectors and camera manipulators through hand gestures and positions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional foot pedals and switches are used for controlling surgical instruments, then the control mechanism is simple and reliable, but the surgical environment becomes cluttered and operational efficiency is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical foot pedals and switches with a hand tracking system that uses optical sensors and computer vision algorithms to detect hand gestures and positions. This substitution eliminates the need for physical control devices in the surgical environment, reducing clutter while enabling more intuitive and efficient control of surgical instruments through natural hand movements.
Solution Approach 2:
The hand tracking system allows surgeons to control surgical instruments using their own hand gestures without requiring external control devices. The system automatically detects hand positions, identifies gestures, and translates them into control commands, enabling the surgeon to serve themselves rather than interacting with separate control mechanisms.
2Ease of operation
If hand tracking systems are implemented to control surgical instruments, then precision and ease of control are improved, but the device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The hand tracking system is designed to perform multiple functions: detecting hand positions, identifying various gestures, determining hand presence, and controlling different surgical instruments. By consolidating these functions into a single integrated system, the patent improves ease of operation while managing overall system complexity through multi-functionality rather than requiring separate systems for each control task.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a camera-based visual intermediary system that captures hand positions and gestures without requiring direct physical contact or complex wearable sensors on the surgeon's hand. This intermediary approach simplifies the tracking system compared to direct measurement methods while maintaining high precision in gesture recognition and control.
3Measurement precision
If sensor elements are mounted on the surgeon's hand for tracking, then hand presence detection and gesture recognition precision are improved, but the comfort and ease of use are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a camera system as an intermediary to detect hand positions and gestures from a distance, eliminating the need for sensors mounted directly on the surgeon's hand. This approach maintains high measurement precision for hand presence detection and gesture recognition while avoiding the discomfort and complexity of wearable sensors, as the camera captures hand movements optically without physical contact.
Data Source
AI summary
In a minimally invasive surgical system, a hand tracking system tracks a location of a sensor element mounted on part of a human hand. A system control parameter is generated based on the location of the part of the human hand. Operation of the minimally invasive surgical system is controlled using the system control parameter. Thus, the minimally invasive surgical system includes a hand tracking system. The hand tracking system tracks a location of part of a human hand. A controller coupled to the hand tracking system converts the location to a system control parameter, and injects into the minimally invasive surgical system a command based on the system control parameter.