Virtualized Remote Surgery Network for Low-Latency Robotic Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing robotic surgery systems face challenges in efficiently and reliably controlling robotic-assisted medical procedures remotely due to transmission delays and inefficiencies in physician utilization, particularly in areas with a shortage of high-quality surgeons and uneven patient distribution, leading to underutilization of surgeons' time and limited access to necessary surgical skills and care.
Innovation Solution
A network virtualization approach is implemented to connect remote physician consoles with robotic-assisted medical procedure systems, utilizing switching circuitry and interfaces to transmit control signals and image data over a dedicated network, ensuring low latency and reliability, and enabling seamless switching between local and remote control modes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If robotic surgery systems are controlled remotely over existing networks, then access to skilled surgeons is improved, but transmission delays and reliability issues worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the control connection into multiple independent pathways: a primary low-latency connection for real-time control signals and a secondary connection for data transmission. This segmentation allows critical control commands to be transmitted reliably while non-critical data can use alternative routes, resolving the contradiction between broad network access and transmission reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces intermediary components including gateway devices and protocol translators that mediate between the remote surgeon's console and the robotic surgery system. These intermediaries buffer, validate, and forward commands, ensuring that transmission delays or packet loss in the network do not directly impact surgical control reliability.
2Reliability
If physicians travel to perform procedures, then patient care quality is improved, but physician time utilization and efficiency worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates a virtual copy of the surgeon's presence through the remote console, which replicates all manual control capabilities of being physically present. This copying eliminates the need for travel while maintaining identical control quality, thereby improving physician time utilization without sacrificing patient care quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The remote console is designed with universal functionality that allows a single surgeon to perform procedures at multiple locations without physical travel. The system supports multiple remote connections simultaneously, enabling one physician to serve multiple patients across different geographical locations, thus improving both care quality access and time utilization.
3Reliability
If direct connection is used between console and robotic system, then control reliability is improved, but network scalability and flexibility worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a single-dimensional direct connection model to a multi-dimensional network architecture that includes virtual private networks, encrypted tunnels, and layered protocol stacks. This dimensional expansion allows the system to maintain direct-connection-like reliability through virtual dedicated channels while simultaneously supporting multiple remote users and scalable network growth.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed systems, apparatuses, and methods enable remotely controlling robotic-assisted medical systems, such as robotic-assisted surgery systems, for performing remote robotic-assisted medical procedures. Disclosed approaches provide a secure, efficient, and dynamically-created virtual network for connecting physician consoles and robotic-assisted medical systems. Disclosed approaches improve efficiency, security, scalability, and reliability of remote robotic-assisted medical procedures.