Medical Arm Assembly Remote Point Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing medical robots cause unnecessary damage to the skin during surgery due to the movement of the robot arm, and require wide incisions when operating in wide surgical sites, necessitating multiple perforations for tool movement.
Innovation Solution
A medical arm assembly that allows the tool to rotate about a virtual center of rotation (remote point) and enables easy adjustment and fixation of this point, minimizing skin perforation area through independent positioning motors and counterweights for balanced movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the robot arm moves to access different surgical sites, then the tool can reach multiple operation areas, but unnecessary damage to the skin occurs and wide incisions are required
Solution Approach 1:
The robot arm is divided into multiple independent links (first link, second link, third link) that can move relative to each other through joints. This segmentation allows the tool to reach wide surgical areas through coordinated small movements of individual links rather than large movements of the entire arm, minimizing skin damage at any single location.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a virtual center of rotation (remote point) that is spatially separated from the actual joint locations. By making the tool rotate about this remote point rather than about physical joints, the system achieves rotational movement without requiring the physical arm to move through large arcs that would cause skin damage.
2Device complexity
If the robot arm structure is fixed, then the structure is simple, but the remote point position cannot be adjusted for different surgical needs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the remote point position dynamically adjustable through independent positioning motors that can move the virtual center of rotation to different locations. This allows the system to adapt to different surgical needs while maintaining a relatively simple physical arm structure, as the complexity is managed through controlled movement rather than multiple fixed configurations.
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
Enables minimization of skin perforation size during surgery and facilitates convenient surgical preparation and adaptation to changing circumstances by allowing precise control of the remote point's position.
Implementation Method 1
a counterweight corresponding to a weight of the arm section
Implementation Method 2
independent positioning motors to move the virtual center of rotation
Data Source
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AI summary
A medical arm assembly according to embodiments disclosed includes: a remote joint where a remote point spaced forward from a reference point is located; a positioning arm section configured to support the remote joint, move the remote joint that a relative position of the remote point with respect to the reference point is changed in forward-and-rearward direction and upward-and-downward direction, and fix the relative position of the remote point with respect to the reference point; an operating arm section connected to the remote joint and configured to fix a surgery tool, rotate the surgery tool about a remote-rotation axis through the remote point in left-and-right direction, and move the surgery tool in a direction perpendicular to the remote rotation axis and through the remote point; and an arm supporting section where the positioning arm section and the operating arm section are supported by connecting and the reference point is located.