Surgical Robotic Arm Setup Boundary for Stroke-Limited Reach

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current robotic systems for medical procedures, such as bronchoscopy, face challenges in accurately determining the initial pose of robotic arms to ensure sufficient stroke length for reaching target regions within a patient's anatomy, which can result in incomplete procedures due to insufficient arm positioning.

Innovation Solution

A system comprising a processor and memory that maps patient anatomy, determining a minimum stroke length and providing an indication of the boundary for the initial pose of a robotic arm, allowing alignment with an access point to ensure the robotic arm can reach the target region during setup.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Length of moving object

If the robotic arm is positioned to reach the target region, then the stroke length is sufficient, but the initial pose may be outside the safe boundary

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvestroke lengthVSAvoidsafe positioning
Core Design Contradiction:
Length of moving objectVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary calculation of the boundary for the initial pose before the actual procedure. The processor determines the minimum stroke length required and calculates the boundary position based on the mapping data, allowing the system to prepare safe positioning parameters in advance to prevent insufficient stroke length during the procedure.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system provides real-time feedback by indicating the boundary during movement of the robotic arm in the arm setup phase. This feedback mechanism allows the operator to see whether the robotic arm is within the safe boundary, enabling continuous adjustment to maintain both sufficient stroke length and safe positioning.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

2Measurement precision

If the boundary indication is provided during arm setup, then the positioning accuracy is improved, but the setup time increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvepositioning accuracyVSAvoidsetup time
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The boundary is calculated preliminarily based on pre-acquired mapping data of the patient's anatomy, target region, and access point. This preliminary calculation of the boundary reduces the need for iterative adjustments during setup, thereby improving positioning accuracy while minimizing additional setup time.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system automatically provides boundary indication without requiring manual measurement or calculation by the operator. The processor autonomously determines the boundary based on stored mapping data and provides real-time indication, reducing the time and complexity of the setup process while maintaining high positioning accuracy.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Data Source

PatentEP3691556B1Robotic system with indication of boundary for robotic arm
Publication Date: 2023.04.19 AURIS HEALTH INC
  • EP3691556B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3691556B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3691556B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

Certain aspects relate to systems and techniques for surgical robotic arm setup. In one aspect, there is provided a system including a first robotic arm configured to manipulate a medical instrument, a processor, and a memory. The processor may be configured to: determine a minimum stroke length of the first robotic arm that allows advancing of the medical instrument by the first robotic arm to reach a target region from an access point via a path, determine a boundary for an initial pose of the first robotic arm based on the minimum stroke length and a mapping stored in the memory, and during an arm setup phase prior to performing a procedure, provide an indication of the boundary during movement of the first robotic arm.