The present invention is generally related to medical and/or robotic devices, systems, and methods.
Minimally invasive medical techniques are intended to reduce the amount of extraneous tissue which is damaged during diagnostic or surgical procedures, thereby reducing patient recovery time, discomfort, and deleterious side effects. One effect of minimally invasive surgery, for example, may be reduced post-operative hospital recovery times. Because the average hospital stay for a standard surgery is typically significantly longer than the average stay for an analogous minimally invasive surgery, increased use of minimally invasive techniques could save millions of dollars in hospital costs each year. While many of the surgeries performed each year in the United States could potentially be performed in a minimally invasive manner, only a portion of the current surgeries use these advantageous techniques due to limitations in minimally invasive surgical instruments and the additional surgical training involved in mastering them.
Minimally invasive robotic surgical or telesurgical systems have been developed to increase a surgeon's dexterity and to avoid some of the limitations on traditional minimally invasive techniques. In telesurgery, the surgeon uses some form of remote control, e.g., a servomechanism or the like, to manipulate surgical instrument movements, rather than directly holding and moving the instruments by hand. In telesurgery systems, the surgeon can be provided with an image of the surgical site at the surgical workstation. While viewing a two or three dimensional image of the surgical site on a display, the surgeon performs the surgical procedures on the patient by manipulating master control devices, which in turn control motion of the servomechanically operated instruments.
The servomechanism used for telesurgery will often accept input from two master controllers (one for each of the surgeon's hands) and may include two or more robotic arms or manipulators on each of which a surgical instrument is mounted. Operative communication between master controllers and associated robotic arm and instrument assemblies is typically achieved through a control system. The control system typically includes at least one processor which relays input commands from the master controllers to the associated robotic arm and instrument assemblies and back from the instrument and arm assemblies to the associated master controllers in the case of, e.g., force feedback or the like. One example of a robotic surgical system is the DA VINCI® system available from Intuitive Surgical, Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif.
The roles and interaction among the persons making up a telesurgical team may differ from those of conventional surgery. As telesurgery is often performed in an internal surgical site, at least some of those working under the direction of the lead surgeon (or other robotic system operator) may not have direct access to or direct visualization of the ongoing tissue manipulations. For example, surgical assistants within the operating room may remove a first surgical instrument (such as an electrosurgical scalpel) from a manipulator and replace it with a different surgical instrument (such as a needle holder), as a surgeon may desire the use of different surgical instruments during different phases of a surgical procedure. Similarly, the assistant may reposition a surgical instrument during a procedure, so that rather than approaching the procedure from a first minimally invasive access site, the instrument is advanced toward the internal surgical site from a second, different access site. More complex robotic systems (and team interactions) may also be used. For example, as surgery is often performed with more than two tools, input devices may be provided for one or more additional surgeons, with each additional surgeon robotically controlling (for example) at least one surgical instrument.
While the new telesurgical systems, devices and methods have proven highly effective and advantageous, still further improvements would be desirable. In general, it would be desirable to provide improved robotic and/or surgical devices, systems and methods, particularly for performing telesurgical procedures. It may also be desirable to provide improved techniques for communication among the members of a telesurgical team, and for interfacing with the telesurgical apparatus so as to more fully take advantage of the capabilities of telesurgery to provide enhanced patient outcomes with improved efficiencies. It may be particularly beneficial to avoid unnecessary interruptions and distractions of a surgeon or other system operator, and to avoid delays and/or mistakes in the coordinated activities of a telesurgical team.
The present invention provides a surgical manipulator assembly and system including an indicator component for providing signals, such as state or identity information. In one embodiment, the invention provides an indicator associated with one or more robotic manipulator assemblies for communication of a state of the manipulator assembly or other component of the robotic system, for identification of one or more particular manipulators, or the like. The indicator(s) can provide an additional user interface between the robotic system and, for example, a surgical assistant, system operator, or the like.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a surgical manipulator assembly is provided, the assembly comprising a manipulator movably supporting a tool holder; and an indicator section operably coupled to the manipulator for indicating state or identity information, the indicator section including a multiple-color light emitting diode (LED) and a translucent housing.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, another surgical manipulator assembly is provided, the assembly comprising a manipulator movably supporting a tool holder for mounting a tool; and an indicator section operably coupled to the manipulator for indicating state or identity information, the indicator section including a multiple-color light emitting diode (LED), a translucent housing, and a magnet for operably coupling to a metal tab of a sterile drape used to substantially cover the surgical manipulator assembly from a sterile field.
In accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention, a robotic surgical manipulator system is provided, the system comprising a manipulator assembly, including a manipulator movably supporting a tool holder, and an indicator section operably coupled to the manipulator for indicating state or identity information, the indicator section including a multiple-color light emitting diode (LED) and a translucent housing. The system further includes a tool mounted on the tool holder, and a processor operably coupled to the manipulator assembly for inducing the LED to indicate state or identity information.
Advantageously, the present invention provides for facilitating communications between the telesurgical system and/or members of a telesurgical team.
The scope of the invention is defined by the claims, which are incorporated into this section by reference. A more complete understanding of embodiments of the present invention will be afforded to those skilled in the art, as well as a realization of additional advantages thereof, by a consideration of the following detailed description of one or more embodiments. Reference will be made to the appended sheets of drawings that will first be described briefly.
Embodiments of the present invention and their advantages are best understood by referring to the detailed description that follows. It should be appreciated that like reference numerals are used to identify like elements illustrated in one or more of the figures. It should also be appreciated that the figures may not be necessarily drawn to scale.
The present invention generally provides improved robotic and/or medical devices, systems and methods. Embodiments of the present invention are particularly well suited for telesurgery, often providing an additional form of user interface that can enhance communication between a surgical system operator, an assistant, other members of a telesurgical team, and/or the telesurgical system. Other embodiments of the invention may be well suited for use in other telerobotic or robotic environments, particularly with robotic systems having a plurality of manipulators.
Typically, manipulator system 6 includes at least 3 robotic manipulator assemblies. Two linkages 7 (mounted at the sides of the cart in this example) support and position manipulators 8 with linkages 7 in general supporting a base of the manipulators 8 at a fixed location during at least a portion of the surgical procedure. Manipulators 8 move surgical tools 5 for robotic manipulation of tissues. One additional linkage 9 (mounted at the center of the cart in this example) supports and positions manipulator 10 which controls the motion of an endoscope/camera probe 11 to capture an image (preferably stereoscopic) of the internal surgical site. The fixable portion of positioning linkages 7, 9 of the patient-side system is sometimes referred to herein as a “set-up arm”.
In one example, the image of the internal surgical site is shown to operator O by a stereoscopic display 12 in surgeon's console 3. The internal surgical site is simultaneously shown to assistant A by an assistance display 14. Assistant A assists in pre-positioning manipulator assemblies 8 and 10 relative to patient P using set-up linkage arms 7, 9; in swapping tools 5 from one or more of the surgical manipulators for alternative surgical tools or instruments 5′; in operating related non-robotic medical instruments and equipment; in manually moving a manipulator assembly so that the associated tool accesses the internal surgical site through a different aperture, and the like.
In general terms, the linkages 7, 9 are used primarily during set-up of patient-side system 6, and typically remain in a fixed configuration during at least a portion of a surgical procedure. Manipulators 8, 10 each comprise a driven linkage which is actively articulated under the direction of surgeon's console 3. Although one or more of the joints of the set-up arm may optionally be driven and robotically controlled, at least some of the set-up arm joints may be configured for manual positioning by assistant A.
For convenience, a manipulator such as manipulator 8 that is supporting a surgical tool used to manipulate tissues is sometimes referred to as a patient-side manipulator (PSM), while a manipulator 10 which controls an image capture or data acquisition device such as endoscope 11 may be referred to as an endoscope-camera manipulator (ECM). The manipulators may optionally actuate, maneuver and control a wide variety of instruments, tools, image capture devices, and the like which are useful for surgery.
As can be seen in
As can be seen in
It can be advantageous to avoid distracting system operator O during a surgical procedure which may shift the operator's attention away from the internal surgical site. Even when assistant A is replacing a tool 5 with an alternative tool 5′, the system operator may continue manipulating tissues with another tool, or may want to continue to view the surgical site to monitor bleeding, and/or the like. Nonetheless, it may be difficult for the system operator to communicate clearly with assistant A regarding which tool 5 is to be replaced by an alternate tool. Specifically, as endoscope 11 may be at any convenient orientation, the tool associated with the right hand of system operator O will often not be disposed to the right of the endoscope, particularly as viewed by the assistant.
So as to unambiguously identify a tool 5 to be replaced by assistant A, system operator O may input a command into workstation 3 (such as by pushing a button on the input device 2, actuating a foot peddle, inputting a voice command, or the like) so that indicator 20 on the manipulator assembly associated with the specific tool 5 generates a visually identifiable signal that can be viewed by the assistant. A corresponding graphical indication of the signal may be provided to system operator O in display 12, such as presentation of an appropriate icon, superimposing of text on the surgical site, the use of image processing to superimpose false colors on the image of the appropriate end effector, or the like. In response to the signal on indicator 20, assistant A can remove and replace the identified tool 5.
There are a number at additional uses for indicators 20 in telesurgical system 1. For example, assistant A will often manually position tools 5 and endoscope 11 when setting up for a surgical procedure, when reconfiguring the manipulator system 6 for a different phase of a surgical procedure, when removing and replacing a tool with an alternate tool 5′, and the like. During such manual reconfiguring of the manipulator assembly by assistant A, the manipulator assembly may be placed in a different mode than is used during master/slave telesurgery, with the manually repositionable mode sometimes being referred to as a clutch mode. The manipulator assembly may change between the tissue manipulation mode and the clutch mode in response to an input such as pushing a button or switch on manipulator 8 (or some other component to the manipulator assembly) (e.g., clutch button/switch 91 in
Indicators 20 may also show an associated identifiable signal when, for example, no tool is attached to the manipulator, when a sterile adaptor or interface between tool 5 and manipulator 8 is not properly attached, if an instrument mounted onto a manipulator is incompatible with that manipulator, if the instrument has reached the end of its useful life, and/or the like. For some of these signals, system operator O may initiate generation of the signal and may specify the associated manipulator assembly from which the signal is to be produced. In others, processor 4 may initiate the signal and/or indicate which manipulator assembly is to be indicated. For example, in the case of a power failure, robotic system 1 may continue to operate using backup batteries. So as to indicate to the assistant A that a power failure has occurred, indicators 20 on all manipulators may blink, optionally blinking with a yellow light as a warning. As the power in the battery is drained so that robotic system 1 can no longer continue to provide robotic movement of the tools, all indicators 20 may blink red, thereby indicating a system fault. A wide variety of alternative signals may also be provided, some of which are indicated by the lexicography of
Referring now to
Manipulator 8, 10 is shown in more detail in
As different colors may be combined with different illumination levels and different modulation patterns in a signal, a very large number of independently identifiable signals can be generated, often being more than three separately identifiable signals, typically being more than 10 separately identifiable signals, and optionally being more than 100 separately identifiable signals. Interpretation of the identifiable signals may be facilitated by a list correlating signals and their meaning, such as that included as
So as to facilitate interpretation of the signals generated by indicators 20, a wide variety of signal conventions may be established and/or employed. For example, as can be understood with reference to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring now to
When the second system operator O2 desires the tool 5 attached to manipulator assembly B be replaced by an alternate tool 5′, for example, tool F, the system operator may verbally instruct assistant A to mount tool F to his manipulator assembly. The indicator 20 of manipulator assembly B generates a signal in response to an appropriate input by the second system operator O2, clearly indicating to the assistant A which tool from which manipulator assembly is to be replaced. As noted above, additional indicators may optionally be associated with each of the alternative tools 5′, thereby foregoing any need for verbal instruction to the assistant regarding which alternative tool is to be mounted to the manipulator.
Processor 4 wilt typically include data processing hardware and software, with the software typically comprising machine-readable code. The machine-readable code will embody software programming instructions to implement some or all of the methods described herein. While processor 4 is shown as a single block in the simplified schematic of
Referring now to
Regardless of whether the signal is initiated by a change in state or a system operator, the processor will typically transmit an appropriate command to one or more of the manipulator assemblies at a step 76, and, in response, the indicator on that manipulator assembly will display a visual signal at a step 78. Optionally, corresponding graphics may be shown in a system operator display at a step 80, thereby allowing the system operator to maintain his or her concentration on the internal surgical site.
In response to the visual signal, the other person, such as an assistant, may optionally reconfigure the manipulator assembly at a step 82. For example, the assistant may remove and replace a tool (with its end effector) or may manually reposition the manipulator linkage so as to move the end effector into a desired position. In some embodiments, the assistant may merely monitor the manipulator assembly in response to one or more visual signals, and may optionally prepare to take some appropriate action if the visual signal changes so as to indicate that such an action is appropriate.
Embodiments described above illustrate but do not limit the invention. It should also be understood that numerous modifications and variations are possible in accordance with the principles of the present invention. For example, the number of LEDs may vary. Accordingly, the scope o the invention is defined only by the following claims.
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/542,126, filed Nov. 14, 2014, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/599,336, filed Aug. 30, 2012, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/556,484, filed Nov. 3, 2006, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/478,416, filed Jun. 28, 2006. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/556,484 also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/752,755, filed Dec. 20, 2005. The full disclosures of all of the above listed applications (including all references incorporated by reference therein) are incorporated by reference herein for all purposes. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/478,416 also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/695,611, filed Jun. 30, 2005, the full disclosure of which (including all references incorporated by reference therein) is incorporated by reference herein for all purposes. This application is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/478,416, filed Jun. 20, 2006, the full disclosure of which (including all references incorporated by reference therein) is incorporated by reference herein for all purposes.
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