ELECTROSURGICAL TOOL COVER
Granted: December 17, 2015
Application Number:
20150359587
A cover for an electrosurgical instrument having a wrist structure and an end effector is provided. The cover includes a hollow elongated structure, which includes a tip cover portion and a base cover portion integrally connected to the tip cover portion. The tip cover portion has a distal end with an opening therethrough sized to receive the end effector of the electrosurgical instrument and is composed of a first, electrically insulative material having a flexibility sufficient to…
STEERABLE ENDOSCOPE AND IMPROVED METHOD OF INSERTION
Granted: December 17, 2015
Application Number:
20150359414
A system for advancing an instrument along an arbitrary path includes a flexible and steerable instrument and an electronic memory configured to store a three-dimensional model of the path, the three-dimension model being generated based on signals from the instrument as it traverses along the path. The system further includes an electronic motion controller logically coupled to the electronic memory, wherein the electronic motion controller is configured to automatically control the…
ACTIVATED POLYMER ARTICULATED INSTRUMENTS AND METHODS OF INSERTION
Granted: November 12, 2015
Application Number:
20150320295
An electro-polymeric articulated endoscope and method of insertion are described herein. A steerable endoscope having a segmented, elongated body with a manually or selectively steerable distal portion and an automatically controlled proximal portion can be articulated by electro-polymeric materials. These materials are configured to mechanically contract or expand in the presence of a stimulus, such as an electrical field. Adjacent segments of the endoscope can be articulated using the…
TOOL GRIP CALIBRATION FOR ROBOTIC SURGERY
Granted: November 5, 2015
Application Number:
20150314451
The present invention is directed to a tool having a wrist mechanism that provides pitch and yaw rotation in such a way that the tool has no singularity in roll, pitch, and yaw. In one embodiment, a minimally invasive surgical instrument comprises an elongate shaft having a working end, a proximal end, and a shaft axis between the working end and the proximal end; and an end effector. A wrist member has a flexible tube including an axis extending through an interior surrounded by a wall.…
SHEATH FOR SURGICAL INSTRUMENT
Granted: November 5, 2015
Application Number:
20150313678
A method using a sheathed surgical apparatus includes equalizing a pressure differential between a surgical insufflation gas pressure and an initial pressure lower than the insufflation gas pressure. The insufflation gas pressure is external to a portion of a surgical apparatus upon which a sheath is disposed, and the initial pressure is within the surgical apparatus. The equalizing of the pressure differential occurs via permeation of insufflation gas through the sheath.
ARTICULATE AND SWAPPABLE ENDOSCOPE FOR A SURGICAL ROBOT
Granted: November 5, 2015
Application Number:
20150313452
The present invention is directed to an articulate minimally invasive surgical endoscope with a flexible wrist having at least one degree of freedom. When used with a surgical robot having a plurality of robot arms, the endoscope can be used with any of the plurality of arms thereby allowing the use a universal arm design. The endoscope in accordance to the present invention is made more intuitive a to a user by attaching a reference frame used for controlling the at least one degree of…
CONTROLLER ASSISTED RECONFIGURATION OF AN ARTICULATED INSTRUMENT DURING MOVEMENT INTO AND OUT OF AN ENTRY GUIDE
Granted: October 22, 2015
Application Number:
20150297300
To perform a tool exchange in a medical robotic system, tool is retracted back into an entry guide from a deployed position and pose so that an assistant in the operating room may replace it with a different tool. While the tool is being retracted back towards the entry guide by user action, its configuration is changed to an entry pose while avoiding collisions with other objects so that it may fit in the entry guide. After the tool exchange is completed, a new tool is inserted in the…
ROBOTIC SURGICAL SYSTEM WITH PATIENT SUPPORT
Granted: September 24, 2015
Application Number:
20150265356
A robotic surgery system for supporting a patient and a robotic surgical manipulator. The robotic surgery system includes a base, a pillar coupled to the base at a first end and extending vertically upwardly to an opposing second end, and an attachment structure coupled to the second end of the pillar. A patient table is coupled to the attachment structure. A robot support arm has a first end coupled to the attachment structure. The robot support arm extends vertically upwardly from the…
TELEOPERATED SURGICAL SYSTEM EQUIPMENT WITH USER INTERFACE
Granted: September 17, 2015
Application Number:
20150257814
A flux supply unit for supplying a flux to a plurality of surgical instruments may include a plurality of connectors and a user control interface. The plurality of connectors may be configured to supply flux to the surgical instruments when the surgical instruments are operationally coupled to respective connectors. The user control interface may include a continuous display screen including a plurality of graphical display screen sections on the same display screen that display controls…
SURGICAL SYSTEM WITH OBSTACLE INDICATION SYSTEM
Granted: September 17, 2015
Application Number:
20150257837
A patient side cart for a teleoperated surgical system may include a base, a column connected to the base, a boom connected to the column, a surgical instrument manipulator arm connected to the boom, and an obstacle indication system comprising an illumination source that directs light in a path of the boom. Various exemplary embodiments also encompass methods of providing obstacle indication via a patient side cart of a teleoperated surgical system, including directing light onto an…
Surgical Instrument Actuation Input Mechanisms, and Related Devices, Systems, and Methods
Granted: September 17, 2015
Application Number:
20150257744
An actuation input mechanism for a teleoperated surgical instrument may include an interface structure and a shaft connected to the interface structure. The interface structure may be engageable with a drive structure of an actuation interface assembly of a teleoperated surgical system to be driven by the drive structure. The shaft may be rotatable in response to the interface structure being driven. The interface structure may comprise a depression shaped and sized to receive a…
OPTIC FIBER CONNECTION FOR A FORCE SENSING INSTRUMENT
Granted: September 10, 2015
Application Number:
20150250548
In one embodiment, a surgical instrument includes a housing linkable with a manipulator arm of a robotic surgical system, a shaft operably coupled to the housing, a force transducer on a distal end of the shaft, and a plurality of fiber optic strain gauges on the force transducer. In one example, the plurality of strain gauges are operably coupled to a fiber optic splitter or an arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) multiplexer. A fiber optic connector is operably coupled to the fiber optic…
MINIMALLY INVASIVE SURGICAL SYSTEM
Granted: September 10, 2015
Application Number:
20150250546
The distal end of a surgical instrument is movable in all six Cartesian degrees of freedom independently of other components of a telemanipulated surgical system. The surgical instrument extends through a guide tube. The distal end is moved by actuators that are telemanipulatively controlled.
FUSING AND CUTTING SURGICAL INSTRUMENT AND RELATED METHODS
Granted: September 10, 2015
Application Number:
20150250530
A surgical instrument can include a shaft having a proximal end and a distal end, and a wrist coupled to the distal end of the shaft and configured to articulate in multiple degrees of freedom. An end effector having jaws may be supported by the wrist. The surgical instrument can further include a first drive element extending from the proximal end of the shaft to the end effector, the first drive element being configured to transmit forces to move the jaws relative to each other between…
Opto-Mechanical Devices with Sharp-Edge Lenses
Granted: August 27, 2015
Application Number:
20150241688
An opto-mechanical device, such as a lens cell, includes a housing having an axially extending chamber and an intermediate internal spacer that positions a sharp-edged lens in the chamber. The sharp-edged lens has first and second optical surfaces that intersect in a circumferential sharp edge. The housing positions an image sensor proximal to the sharp-edged lens for processing light therefrom.
Surgical Instrument With Stowing Knife Blade
Granted: August 20, 2015
Application Number:
20150230794
A surgical instrument with a stowing knife blade includes an elongated shaft, an end effector coupled to the shaft and including two opposed jaws, a housing included in one of the jaws, a first member mounted in the housing and movable distally, a knife pivotally coupled with the first member, and a second member. The knife is configured to cut when advanced distally. The first and second members are moved distally at the same rate during a cutting motion of the knife and the second…
Imaging Mode Blooming Suppression
Granted: July 2, 2015
Application Number:
20150189148
A minimally invasive surgical system includes a scene anti-bloom process that allows switching between imaging modes on a stereoscopic display without causing a surgeon to look-away or being momentarily distracted by sudden changes in overall scene luminance. The process receives a switch from a first imaging mode to a second imaging mode. An overall scene luminance of a scene in the first imaging mode is less than an overall scene luminance of a scene in the second imaging mode. The…
Method and Apparatus for Hand Gesture Control in a Minimally Invasive Surgical System
Granted: July 2, 2015
Application Number:
20150182289
In a minimally invasive surgical system, a hand tracking system tracks a location of a sensor element mounted on part of a human hand. A system control parameter is generated based on the location of the part of the human hand. Operation of the minimally invasive surgical system is controlled using the system control parameter. Thus, the minimally invasive surgical system includes a hand tracking system. The hand tracking system tracks a location of part of a human hand. A controller…
ADAPTABLE INTEGRATED ENERGY CONTROL SYSTEM FOR ELECTROSURGICAL TOOLS IN ROBOTIC SURGICAL SYSTEMS
Granted: June 25, 2015
Application Number:
20150173849
A method for a minimally invasive surgical system is disclosed including reading first tool information from a storage device in a first robotic surgical tool mounted to a first robotic arm to at least determine a first tool type; reading equipment information about one or more remote controlled equipment for control thereof; comparing the first tool information with the equipment information to appropriately match a first remote controlled equipment of the one or more remote controlled…
FORCE AND TORQUE SENSING FOR SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS
Granted: June 18, 2015
Application Number:
20150164598
An apparatus, system, and method for improving force and torque sensing and feedback to the surgeon performing a telerobotic surgery are provided. Groups of axially oriented strain gauges are positioned on a distal end of an instrument shaft proximate a moveable wrist of a robotic surgical instrument to sense forces and torques at the distal tip of the instrument. Advantageously, errors due to changes in the configuration of the tip or steady state temperature variations are eliminated.…
