Powered Patient Side Cart Steering for Safe Surgical Repositioning
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge lies in moving a teleoperated surgical patient side cart efficiently and safely due to its weight, size, and configuration, which requires significant effort and can be cumbersome for users to control and maneuver.
Innovation Solution
A patient side cart equipped with a drive system and a steering interface that detects user input forces, using a control module and model section to output movement commands to driven wheels, enabling easier and safer movement by reducing the user's necessary force input.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If the patient side cart is designed with sufficient weight and size to hold surgical instruments and equipment, then the cart can support necessary surgical operations, but it becomes difficult and cumbersome for users to move and maneuver
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical pushing and steering with an automated drive system. Motors are integrated into the wheel assemblies to provide powered movement, eliminating the need for users to physically push the heavy cart. The steering interface uses sensors to detect user intent and translates it into automated navigation commands, substituting mechanical steering effort with electronic control.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a control system as an intermediary between the user and the cart's movement. The steering interface detects user input forces and communicates desired movement to the drive system, which then executes the movement. This intermediary layer allows lightweight user interaction while the heavy lifting is performed by the automated drive system.
2Ease of operation
If the cart is equipped with a drive system and steering interface to ease movement, then user effort is reduced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the drive system components directly into the wheel assemblies. Motors are integrated into the wheel hubs, and steering mechanisms are combined with the wheel structure. This integration reduces the number of separate components and simplifies the overall system architecture while maintaining the ease of movement benefit.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system serves multiple functions: it processes steering input, calculates navigation paths, controls motor speeds, and monitors cart position. By making the control system multi-functional, the patent reduces the need for separate dedicated components for each function, thereby managing complexity while providing comprehensive movement assistance.
Data Source
AI summary
A cart for supporting one or more instruments for a computer-assisted, remote procedure can include a base and a support structure extending from the base and adjustable to different configurations, the support structure being configured to support one or more instruments to perform a remote procedure. The cart can further include a steering interface configured to be grasped by a user and a sensor mechanism configured to detect a force applied to the steering interface. The cart also can include a drive system comprising a control module operably coupled to receive an input from the sensor mechanism in response to the force applied to the steering interface and information about a configuration of the support structure, the control module operably coupled to output a movement command based on the received input from the sensor mechanism and the information about the configuration of the support structure. A driven wheel may be mounted to the base and configured to impart wheeled motion to the cart in response to the movement command.