Surgical Patient Cart Drive Control for Easier Maneuvering
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge lies in moving a teleoperated surgical patient side cart efficiently due to its weight, size, and configuration, making it difficult for users to maneuver and control safely when relocating it between different locations.
Innovation Solution
A patient side cart equipped with a drive system and a steering interface that detects user input forces, using a control module and model section to output movement commands for driven wheels, enabling easy and safe movement by reducing the user's effort required to move the cart.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the patient side cart is designed with heavy components for surgical instrument support, then the structural strength and stability are improved, but the ease of operation deteriorates due to increased weight
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical pushing and steering with an automated drive system that includes motors, controllers, and sensors. The control system autonomously navigates the cart based on sensor data, eliminating the need for users to physically maneuver the heavy cart while maintaining its structural strength for supporting surgical instruments.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the patient side cart is equipped with advanced teleoperated surgical instruments, then the surgical capability is improved, but the device complexity increases making it harder to maneuver
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the complex teleoperated surgical system into separate functional modules: the patient side cart containing surgical instruments and imaging equipment, the surgeon console for control inputs, and an autonomous drive system. This segmentation allows each module to be optimized independently, managing overall system complexity while maintaining advanced surgical capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The drive system incorporates autonomous navigation capabilities with sensors and controllers that enable the cart to move itself without external assistance. This self-service functionality reduces the operational burden on users despite the high complexity of the integrated surgical instruments and teleoperated controls.
3Reliability
If the patient side cart is made stationary for stability during surgery, then the reliability is improved, but the adaptability deteriorates as it cannot be relocated between operating rooms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic system that transitions between mobile and stationary states. During surgery, the autonomous drive system maintains the cart in a stable stationary position for reliable instrument operation. When surgery is complete, the same drive system enables easy relocation to another operating room, providing both stability during use and adaptability for relocation.
Data Source
AI summary
A cart for supporting one or more instruments for a computer-assisted, remote procedure can include a base and a support structure extending from the base and adjustable to different configurations, the support structure being configured to support one or more instruments to perform a remote procedure. The cart can further include a steering interface configured to be grasped by a user and a sensor mechanism configured to detect a force applied to the steering interface. The cart also can include a drive system comprising a control module operably coupled to receive an input from the sensor mechanism in response to the force applied to the steering interface and information about a configuration of the support structure, the control module operably coupled to output a movement command based on the received input from the sensor mechanism and the information about the configuration of the support structure. A driven wheel may be mounted to the base and configured to impart wheeled motion to the cart in response to the movement command.