Surgical tables and methods of operating the same

A surgical table comprising:

• a base for standing on a floor;
• a column extending from the base;
• a tabletop providing a patient support surface;
• and
• a mechanism coupling the tabletop to the column and for enabling rotational movement of the tabletop relative to the column about two orthogonal axes, the mechanism comprising a first frame connected to the tabletop, a second frame rotatably mounted on the first frame, first and second extensible stabilisers, and first and second actuators disposed outside of both the first and second extensible stabilisers, each actuator being connected to a respective one of the frames for moving the respective frame about a respective one of the two orthogonal axes;
• wherein the first frame is connected to the column via the first extensible stabiliser and the first actuator in parallel, and the second frame is connected to the column by the second extensible stabiliser and the second actuator in parallel;
• and
• wherein the first actuator is rotatably connected to the column about a first axis and the second actuator is rotatably connected to the column about a second axis, wherein the second axis is orthogonal to the first axis.

A surgical table comprising:

• a base for standing on a floor;
• a column extending from the base;
• a tabletop providing a patient support surface;
• and
• a mechanism coupling the tabletop to the column and for enabling rotational movement of the tabletop relative to the column about two orthogonal axes, the mechanism comprising a first frame connected to the tabletop, a second frame rotatably mounted on the first frame, an extensible stabiliser, and first, second and third actuators disposed outside of the extensible stabiliser, each of the first and second actuators being connected to a respective one of the frames for moving the respective frame about a respective one of the two orthogonal axes;
• wherein the first frame is connected to the column via the first and third actuators in parallel, and the second frame is connected to the column by the extensible stabiliser and second actuator in parallel;
• and
• wherein the total number of actuators via which the first frame is connected to the column is only two, and the total number of actuators via which the second frame is connected to the column is only one;
• and
• wherein the first actuator is rotatably connected to the column about a first axis and the second actuator is rotatably connected to the column about a second axis, wherein the second axis is orthogonal to the first axis.