Robotic Surgical Arm Coordination With Collision Sensing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Robotic surgical systems face challenges in controlling the movement of multiple surgical instruments simultaneously, leading to difficulties in maintaining coordination, preventing collisions, and providing effective force feedback to surgeons, which can complicate minimally invasive procedures.
Innovation Solution
A robotic surgical system with multiple movable arms and a controller that allows for coordinated movement of surgical instruments, includes sensors for collision detection and notification mechanisms to prevent collisions, and provides cues for instrument positioning within a camera's field of view.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If multiple surgical instruments are controlled by a robotic surgical system, then the precision and coordination of surgical procedures is improved, but the device complexity increases due to the need for coordinating multiple arms and instruments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple surgical instruments and arms into a single robotic surgical system that operates under unified control. The controller integrates the movement coordination of multiple arms, allowing them to operate simultaneously with precise synchronization while reducing the overall complexity compared to having separate control systems for each instrument.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates sensors on each arm that provide real-time position and status feedback to the controller. This feedback mechanism enables the controller to coordinate arm movements automatically, maintain spatial relationships between instruments, and prevent collisions, thereby achieving high precision without requiring complex manual coordination.
2Reliability
If sensors are added to detect collisions between arms, then the safety and reliability of the surgical system is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Each arm is equipped with its own sensor system that autonomously monitors its position and detects potential collisions with other arms. The sensors on the arms themselves provide self-monitoring capability, allowing the system to detect and respond to collision risks without requiring an additional centralized monitoring system.
Solution Approach 2:
The collision detection sensors are positioned and configured to detect impending collisions before they occur. The system can identify potential conflicts between arm trajectories and take preventive action by adjusting arm positions or restricting movement, thereby ensuring safety in advance rather than reacting after a collision occurs.
3Productivity
If the robotic system controls movement of multiple arms simultaneously, then the productivity of surgical procedures is improved, but the difficulty of detecting and measuring positions of all arms increases
Solution Approach 1:
The position detection system is segmented into individual sensor units on each arm, with each sensor independently measuring its arm's position. This segmentation allows the controller to receive discrete position data from each arm and coordinate their movements efficiently, improving productivity while keeping the detection system manageable through modular architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The controller acts as an intermediary between the sensors on each arm and the overall system coordination. It receives position data from the sensors, processes the information, and generates coordinated movement commands. This intermediary function simplifies the complexity of detecting and measuring multiple arm positions by centralizing the data processing and coordination tasks.
Data Source
AI summary
Various exemplary methods, systems, and devices for controlling movement of a robotic surgical system are provided. In general, a plurality of surgical instruments can be simultaneously in use during performance of a surgical procedure. One or more of the plurality of instruments can be coupled to a robotic surgical system, which can be configured to control movement of the one or more of the plurality of instruments.