Robotic Surgery Pivot Control With Endoscope Range Overlay
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional robotic surgical systems face challenges in maintaining ease of work in the space close to a patient's body surface due to the obstruction caused by the mechanism holding the cannula, making it difficult for assistants to perform their tasks and limiting the operator's ability to recognize the pivot position changes.
Innovation Solution
A robotic surgical system that includes a pivot position specifier to store pivot positions in a storage and a graphical user interface displayed on an endoscope image, allowing operators to easily recognize and adjust the pivot position without the need for a structurally specified manipulator arm or cannula-holding mechanism.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a mechanism that holds the cannula is provided in the manipulator arm, then the pivot position can be mechanically specified, but the mechanism obstructs the assistance work and makes work difficult in the space close to the patient's body surface
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the pivot position specification function from the mechanical structure and relocates it to software. The pivot position is no longer mechanically specified by a cannula-holding mechanism but is instead defined by a pivot position specifier that stores coordinates in memory, eliminating the obstructive mechanism while maintaining reliable pivot position control
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical system (cannula-holding mechanism) with a software-based system (pivot position specifier storing coordinates). This substitution eliminates the physical obstruction while maintaining the ability to precisely control and specify the pivot position through digital means
2Adaptability or versatility
If the pivot position is changed to release pull of the patient's abdominal wall or avoid interference of robot arms, then the movable range and interference avoidance improve, but the operator needs to easily recognize the correctable range of the pivot position
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback by displaying the pivot correctable range on the display device. The controller calculates the correctable range based on the stored pivot position and displays it overlaid on the endoscope image, providing visual feedback to the operator about where the pivot position can be adjusted without causing interference or excessive pull on the abdominal wall
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary visual display (the correctable range indication overlaid on the endoscope image) that mediates between the complex spatial constraints and the operator's decision-making. This visual intermediary translates the three-dimensional spatial relationships into a two-dimensional intuitive display, making it easy for the operator to recognize and adjust the pivot position within acceptable limits
Data Source
AI summary
This robotic surgical system has a controller that performs the process of displaying, on the display, a graphical user interface overlayed on the image captured by the endoscope, wherein the graphical user interface includes a correctable range indication indicating a pivot correctable range that is set based on the pivot position stored in the storage.