Robotic surgical system for protecting tissue surrounding a surgical site
AssigneeIntegrity Implants Inc.
InventorChristopher Walsh
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and methods are provided for determining acceptable ranges of pressures for use by a robotic arm on a surgical instrument, robotic systems and methods that are limited to using the acceptable ranges of pressures, and the medical devices for use in the robotic surgery. Learning software is included in the methods and systems for correlating manually-performed procedures with pressure sensors as a tactile gauge for qualifying the acceptable ranges of pressures for use by a robotic system. Robotic systems and methods are provided for (i) locating tissue borders of a surgical site, (ii) identifying a preferred pressure, and (iii) transmitting the data to the computer to avoid violating the integrity of tissue surrounding the surgical site.
Claims20
A robotic surgical system for identifying a surgical region in which to apply an acceptable range of pressures to a functional portion of a surgical instrument against an animal tissue, the system comprising:
- a surgical instrument having a functional portion that contacts an animal tissue having a defined surgical region through application of pressure by an operator of the surgical instrument;
- a robotic arm configured for holding the surgical instrument and contacting the functional portion of the surgical instrument with the animal tissue using a pressure from within a range of acceptable pressures;
- a pressure application component operably coupled to the robot arm to apply the pressure from within the range of acceptable pressures when contacting the functional portion with the animal tissue;
- a pressure sensor in an operable association with the functional portion operable to measure the pressure applied by the operator to the functional portion in contact with the animal tissue;
- a computer having a processor;
- and, a memory including
- a pressure module on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium operable to create pressure data representing the pressure applied by the operator to the functional portion in contact with the animal tissue;
- a design module on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium operable for establishing a pressure profile output that identifies the range of acceptable pressures for use in contacting a type of animal tissue, the animal tissue in contact with the functional portion;
- a governing module on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, wherein the governing module is operable to limit the pressure applied by the robotic arm on the functional portion to the range of acceptable pressures when contacting the functional portion with the animal tissue;
- wherein the range of acceptable pressures is selected by a process that includes
- analyzing pressure data representing a total range of pressures on a computer having a processor and a memory having a pressure module on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and a database on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, the analyzing including
- creating the pressure data with the pressure module, the pressure data representing the pressure applied by the operator to the functional portion in contact with the animal tissue;
- and,
- selecting the range of acceptable of pressures;
- and,
- a database on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium operable to store the pressure data;
- wherein, the robotic surgical system gathers data to (i) locate tissue borders of the surgical site, (ii) identify a preferred pressure, and (iii) transmit the data to the computer to avoid violating the integrity of the tissue borders surrounding the surgical site.
A robotic system calibrated to identify borders and to apply a range of acceptable pressures to a vertebral disc through a functional portion of a surgical instrument, the system comprising:
- a surgical instrument having a functional portion;
- a robotic arm configured for holding the surgical instrument and contacting the functional portion of the surgical instrument with an animal tissue using a pressure from within a range of acceptable pressures;
- a pressure application component operably coupled to the robotic arm to apply the pressure from within the range of acceptable pressures when contacting the functional portion with the animal tissue;
- a processor;
- and,
- a memory including
- a governing module on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, wherein the governing module is operable to limit the pressure applied by the robotic arm on the functional portion to the range of acceptable pressures when contacting the functional portion with the animal tissue;
- wherein the range of acceptable pressures is selected by a process that includes
- analyzing pressure data representing a total range of pressures on a computer having a processor and a memory having a pressure module on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and a database on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, the analyzing including
- creating the pressure data with the pressure module, the pressure data representing a pressure applied by an operator to the functional portion in contact with the animal tissue;
- and,
- selecting the range of acceptable of pressures;
- wherein, the robotic surgical system gathers data to (i) locate the borders of an annulus of the vertebral disc, (ii) identify a preferred pressure, and (iii) transmit the data to the computer to avoid violating the integrity of the animal tissue surrounding the vertebral disc.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.