Offset Pulley Arrangement for Surgical Instrument Articulation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current robotic surgical instruments face challenges in efficiently exchanging instruments during laparoscopic operations, requiring minimization of detachment and attachment time, and optimizing the setup of instruments for use.
Innovation Solution
A surgical robotic instrument with a pulley guard and pulley arrangement featuring a clevis unit with offset pulleys and pulley guards, allowing for efficient drive element routing and maintaining tension across multiple joints, ensuring precise control and ease of instrument exchange.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a traditional pulley arrangement is used to articulate the surgical instrument, then the instrument can achieve multi-degree-of-freedom motion, but the instrument exchange time and setup time are increased
Solution Approach 1:
The articulation system is divided into separate modular joints (pitch joint and yaw joints) with dedicated pulleys for each degree of freedom. This segmentation allows individual joints to be independently configured and facilitates rapid instrument exchange by enabling modular assembly and disassembly of articulation components.
Solution Approach 2:
The pulley arrangement extends the cable path into three-dimensional space by routing cables through multiple pulleys positioned at different locations. This spatial arrangement enables complex multi-DOF motion while maintaining cable tension and allowing for compact, efficient instrument design that reduces setup time.
2Measurement precision
If offset pulleys are used to route driving elements, then precise control is achieved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple pulleys are combined into a single integrated pulley arrangement that handles multiple driving elements simultaneously. This merging reduces the number of separate components, simplifies the overall structure, and maintains precise control by coordinating the motion of multiple cables through a unified pulley system.
Solution Approach 2:
The pulley arrangement is designed to perform multiple functions: routing multiple driving elements, maintaining cable tension, enabling multi-DOF articulation, and facilitating precise control. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional separate components, thereby reducing overall device complexity while maintaining control precision.
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
The solution enables rapid and efficient exchange of instruments, maintains consistent drive element tension for precise control, and reduces the complexity of instrument setup, enhancing operational efficiency during surgical procedures.
Implementation Method 1
Pulley 305 is used to direct cables 307 and 308 from their passage over the pitch joint to the yaw joints
Data Source
AI summary
A surgical robotic instrument comprising: a shaft; an end effector element; an articulation connecting the end effector element to the shaft, the articulation comprising: a first joint driveable by a first pair of driving elements, the first joint permitting the end effector element to rotate about a first axis transverse to a longitudinal axis of the shaft; a second joint driveable by a second pair of driving elements; a pulley arrangement around which the second pair of driving elements is constrained to move, the pulley arrangement comprising: a first set of pulleys rotatable about the first axis; and a second set of pulleys proximal to the first set of pulleys and comprising a first pulley rotatable about a second axis, and a second pulley rotatable about a third axis parallel to and offset from the second axis; and a clevis unit comprising two arms supporting the pulleys of the pulley arrangement, and a pulley guard extending from one of the arms for guarding one of the first and second pulleys.