Medical Manipulator Emergency Shutdown Switch
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medical manipulator systems lack the ability for quick and reliable emergency shutdown by assistants during surgical operations, as the emergency shutdown mechanism is typically only accessible to the operator, leading to potential delays and increased risk of errors in case of unexpected manipulator malfunctions or patient condition changes.
Innovation Solution
A medical manipulator system with a slave-side emergency shutdown switch allows assistants to perform emergency shutdowns independently, complemented by a portable emergency shutdown switch and a controller-side emergency shutdown switch for enhanced operability and reliability, enabling immediate action in critical situations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the emergency shutdown mechanism is only accessible to the operator, then the operator can control the manipulator, but the response time in case of emergency is delayed and the reliability is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The emergency shutdown function is segmented from the operator's exclusive control and distributed to multiple locations: the slave-side emergency shutdown switch is placed in the assistant's workspace, and a portable emergency shutdown switch is provided. This segmentation allows any person in the operating room to initiate emergency shutdown, eliminating the time delay caused by requiring operator action and improving emergency response reliability.
2Loss of time
If the slave-side emergency shutdown switch is provided, then the assistant can perform emergency shutdown independently improving response time, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The emergency shutdown system is designed with multi-functionality: the slave-side emergency shutdown switch and portable emergency shutdown switch both connect to the same control circuitry and shutdown mechanism. This universal design allows different shutdown initiation points to share the same underlying system, reducing overall complexity despite the increased number of access points. The controller receives shutdown signals from multiple sources and executes a unified shutdown procedure.
3Ease of operation
If multiple emergency shutdown switches are provided, then the operability in case of emergency is improved, but the difficulty of detecting and measuring the emergency state increases
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit implements feedback by receiving shutdown signals from multiple switches (slave-side and portable) and providing unified control signals to stop manipulator operations. The system monitors the state of each switch and provides feedback to ensure that when any emergency shutdown switch is activated, the manipulator is reliably stopped and the emergency state is communicated to all users, simplifying the detection and response to emergency conditions.
Data Source
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AI summary
A medical manipulator system based on a master-slave scheme in which a slave-side device is operated by the master side device is configured as follows. The medical manipulator system includes a plurality of slave manipulators (25a, 25b, 27) disposed on the slave side and configured to hold a medical tool, a microcontroller (11a) disposed on the master side and configured to control operation of the slave manipulators (25a, 25b, 27), and a slave-side emergency shutdown switch (12p, 24) disposed on the slave side and configured to instruct the microcontroller (11a) to forcibly shut down operation of the slave manipulators (25a, 25b, 27).