Reduced Degree Jointed Structure for Medical Instrument Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current devices for assisting with the handling of instruments or tools, such as echographic probes during breast tomosynthesis examinations, are complex, bulky, and expensive, with insufficient motor drives to provide effective guidance for positioning and movement, particularly in transitioning from compressed to non-compressed breast positions.
Innovation Solution
A jointed mechanical structure with a reduced number of motor drives and automatic control, allowing the device to impose constraints on position and velocity parameters, facilitating the accurate positioning of the echographic probe relative to a lesion by guiding it through a combination of translations and rotations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a jointed mechanical structure with multiple motor drives is used to assist positioning of the echographic probe, then the positioning accuracy and guidance capability are improved, but the device complexity, size, and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces a complex mechanical system with multiple motor drives (6 degrees of freedom) with a simplified mechanical structure (3 degrees of freedom) combined with automatic control. The control system calculates and commands the reduced number of motor drives to achieve the desired positioning, substituting mechanical complexity with computational control to maintain accuracy while reducing device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the operational parameters of the mechanical structure by reducing the number of active degrees of freedom from 6 to 3. The automatic control system compensates for this parameter change by calculating the optimal positioning commands for the reduced set of motor drives, achieving the required positioning accuracy with fewer mechanical components.
2Device complexity
If the number of motor drives is reduced to simplify the device, then the device complexity and cost are reduced, but the capability to meet position and velocity constraints deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The automatic control system continuously monitors the position and velocity of the echographic probe and adjusts the commands to the motor drives in real-time. This feedback mechanism ensures that the reduced number of motor drives can still satisfy the position and velocity constraints required for accurate lesion targeting, maintaining reliability despite the simplified mechanical structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system pre-calculates the optimal positioning commands and trajectory for the echographic probe before movement begins. By preparing the positioning plan in advance, the system ensures that the reduced number of motor drives can achieve the required position and velocity constraints without requiring complex real-time mechanical adjustments.
3Ease of operation
If the patient position is changed from compressed (tomosynthesis) to non-compressed (echography), then the echographic examination comfort is improved, but the lesion localization accuracy becomes difficult to maintain
Solution Approach 1:
The automatic control system acts as an intermediary between the tomosynthesis imaging data and the echographic probe positioning. It calculates the transformation required to map the lesion location from the compressed breast coordinate system to the non-compressed coordinate system, and commands the motor drives to position the probe accurately at the corresponding location, maintaining localization accuracy despite the position change.
Solution Approach 2:
The system pre-calculates the optimal probe position and orientation in the non-compressed breast configuration based on the tomosynthesis images obtained in the compressed position. This preliminary calculation of the transformation and target coordinates enables accurate lesion targeting after the patient repositions, without requiring real-time mental reconstruction by the practitioner.
Data Source
AI summary
A device for assisting with the handling of an instrument or tool, the device comprising a jointed mechanical structure on a support, wherein an instrument or tool may be attached, motor drives configured to actuate the jointed mechanical structure, according to a number of degrees of freedom of less than that which the structure provides to the instrument or tool, and an automatic control, wherein the automatic control drives the motor drives in order to facilitate the meeting of a constraint on position and/or velocity parameters of the instrument or tool, which constraint the motor drives by themselves, independently of handling by an operator, cannot entirely meet.