US 10,820,949 B2Granted

Medical robotic system with dynamically adjustable slave manipulator characteristics

AssigneeIntuitive Surgical Operations, Inc.

InventorsGiuseppe Prisco, Hubert Stein, Paul Millman, David Bailey, William Nowlin, Michael Ikeda, Thomas Nixon

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A slave manipulator manipulates a medical device in response to operator manipulation of an input device through joint control systems. The stiffness and strength of the slave manipulator are adjustable according to criteria such as the mode of operation of the slave manipulator, the functional type of the medical device currently being held by the slave manipulator, and the current phase of a medical procedure being performed using the slave manipulator by changing corresponding parameters of the control system. For safety purposes, such changes are not made until it is determined that it can be done in a smooth manner without causing jerking of the medical device. Further, an excessive force warning may be provided to surgery staff when excessive forces are being commanded on the slave manipulator for more than a specified period of time.

Claims22

Dependent claims

A method implemented by a processor for dynamically adjusting a stiffness of a slave manipulator coupleable to a medical device, the method comprising:

the processor determining, during a medical procedure, whether the stiffness of the slave manipulator is to be adjusted by applying a set of expert rules stored in a memory, the set of expert rules using information of at least one of a functional type of the medical device and a current phase of the medical procedure;
and
conditioned upon the processor determining that the stiffness of the slave manipulator is to be adjusted by applying the set of expert rules, the processor dynamically adjusting, during the medical procedure, the stiffness of the slave manipulator, by automatically changing a gain according to a value stored along with the set of expert rules in the memory, wherein the gain is used within a control system for controlling movement of the slave manipulator.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 11/847,168Filed 29 Aug 2007 · continuation in part
Priority: 7 Apr 1999
Published: US 2009/0062813 A15 Mar 2009
Granted: 3 Nov 2020
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification10 codes

A61B 34/30
Computer-aided surgery; Manipulators or robots specially adapted for use in surgery: surgical robots
A61B 34/37
Surgical robots: leader-follower robots
A61B 90/361
Image-producing devices or illumination devices not otherwise provided for: image-producing devices, e.g. surgical cameras
B25J 9/1676
Characterised by safety, monitoring, diagnostic: avoiding collision or forbidden zones

Family

Application60/128,157Us provisional application · filed 7 Apr 1999
Application09/544,153Parent of this division · filed 6 Apr 2000
Application10/437,771Parent of this continuation · filed 13 May 2003
Application11/074,372Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 7 Mar 2005
US 2009/0062813 A1Pre-grant publication · published 5 Mar 2009
US 7,373,219 B2Parent of this continuation-in-part
US 6,879,880 B2Parent of this continuation
Application11/074,372Parent of this continuation
US 6,594,552 B1Parent of this division
Application10/437,771Parent of this division
US 2003/0195664 A1Published application
US 2006/0030840 A1Published application
US 10,820,949 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.