Patient positioner system
OwnerToby D. Henderson, Niek Schreuder +1inventors
InventorsToby D. Henderson, Niek Schreuder, Brian Broderick
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A computer controlled robot system for positioning a patient for radiation therapy or other medical procedures and the like. The robot is mounted at the top of a vertical shaft extending from the treatment room floor and includes horizontal arms arranged to maximize the available work envelope and eliminate “dead spots” in the envelope that the robot cannot reach. A double redundant coupling system for coupling devices to the robot is provided. A vision based docking system is employed for automatically coupling devices to the robot. Various enhanced safety features are provided, including device specific collision avoidance.
Claims26
A control system for a patient positioner system that includes a robot having a horizontally rotatable first arm segment, a horizontally rotatable second arm segment coupled to the first arm segment, and a wrist assembly coupled to the second arm segment, and a patient table attached to the wrist assembly of the robot, the control system being configured to control the robot to position the patient table at all points within a complete circular envelope defined by a maximum reach of the first and second arm segments without any dead spots, comprising:
- at least one force sensor coupled to at least one of the robot or the patient table whereby the at least one force sensor generates a control input from a user directly applying a load to at least one of the robotic arm or the patient table to which the force sensor is coupled;
- at least one position sensor coupled to at least one of the robot or the patient table whereby the at least one position sensor generates position information of at least one specific point on the robot or patient table in real space;
- and
- an optical detection device to monitor location of devices to be coupled to the robotic arm;
- and
- an electronic controller operatively coupled to the at least one force sensor, the at least one position sensor, and the optical detection device, the electronic controller programmed to control the robot to position the patient table in response to the control input provided by the at least one force sensor, the controller further including a collision avoidance algorithm and a computer aided design representations of the robot and the patient table, the collision avoidance algorithm using the computer aided design representations to determine a work space for the entire system, the controller further including a vision based docking system to position the robot to dock with the devices based on a visual position thereof.
A patient positioner system, comprising:
- a robot having a first arm segment, a second arm segment coupled to the first arm segment, and a wrist assembly coupled to the second arm segment;
- a patient table attached to the wrist assembly;
- a control system operably coupled to the robot, wherein the control system is configured to control the robot to vary a position of the patient table, including a vertical position of the table, at all points within a complete circular envelope wherein the complete circular envelope is defined by a maximum reach of the first and second arm segments without any dead spots, wherein the control system has a 3D emulator that provides 3D simulation of motions being commanded such that a user can simulate the actions of the patient table.
A patient positioner system, comprising:
- a robot having a first arm segment, a second arm segment coupled to the first arm segment, and a wrist assembly coupled to the second arm segment;
- a patient table attached to the wrist assembly;
- wherein the patent table is configured with a dual coupler system that includes two independent couplers, each independent coupler being sufficient to provide safe and secure attachment of the patient table to provide redundant coupling of the patient table to the wrist assembly;
- a control system operably coupled to the robot, wherein the control system is configured to control the robot to vary a position of the patient table, including the vertical position of the table, at all points within a complete circular envelope wherein the complete circular envelope is defined by a maximum reach of the first and second arm segments without any dead spots.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.