# US 12,108,997 B2 · System with guides and tools of different flexibility > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,108,997 B2 - Document ID: US12108997B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/165,245 - Filed: 2021-02-02 - Published: 2021-07-29 - Granted: 2024-10-08 - Earliest claimed: 2014-09-09 - Assignees: Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. - Applicants: Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. - Inventors: Samuel Kwok Wai Au - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12108997B2 ## CPC - A61B 34/32: operating autonomously - A61B 10/0233: {Pointed or sharp biopsy instruments} - A61B 34/20: Surgical navigation systems; Devices for tracking or guiding surgical instruments, e.g. for frameless stereotaxis - A61B 34/30: Surgical robots - A61M 25/0113: {Mechanical advancing means, e.g. catheter dispensers} - A61M 25/0116: {self-propelled, e.g. autonomous robots (A61M25/0122 takes precedence)} - B25J 9/161: {Hardware, e.g. neural networks, fuzzy logic, interfaces, processor} - B25J 9/1689: {Teleoperation} - A61B 2034/2061: {using shape-sensors, e.g. fiber shape sensors with Bragg gratings} - A61B 2034/301: {for introducing or steering flexible instruments inserted into the body, e.g. catheters or endoscopes} - A61B 2034/303: {specifically adapted for manipulations within body lumens, e.g. within lumen of gut, spine, or blood vessels} - A61B 2034/306: {Wrists with multiple vertebrae} - A61B 2090/306: {using optical fibres} - A61B 2090/3614: {using optical fibre} - A61M 2025/0166: {Sensors, electrodes or the like for guiding the catheter to a target zone, e.g. image guided or magnetically guided} - A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D) - A61M: DEVICES FOR INTRODUCING MEDIA INTO, OR ONTO, THE BODY (introducing media into or onto the bodies of animals A61D7/00; means for inserting tampons A61F13/26; devices for administering food or medicines orally A61J; containers for collecting, storing or administering blood or medical fluids A61J1/05); DEVICES FOR TRANSDUCING BODY MEDIA OR FOR TAKING MEDIA FROM THE BODY (surgery A61B; chemical aspects of surgical articles A61L); DEVICES FOR PRODUCING OR ENDING SLEEP OR STUPOR {(Electrotherapy, e.g. producing anaesthesia by the use of alternating or intermittent currents A61N1/36021)} - B25J: MANIPULATORS; CHAMBERS PROVIDED WITH MANIPULATION DEVICES ({manipulators specially adapted for use in surgery A61B34/70; manipulators used in cleaning hollow articles B08B9/04}; manipulators associated with rolling mills B21B39/20; manipulators associated with forging machines B21J13/10; {manipulators associated with picking-up and placing mechanisms B23P19/007}; means for holding wheels or parts thereof B60B30/00; {vehicles with ground-engaging propulsion means, e.g. walking members B62D57/02, B62D57/032; devices for picking-up and depositing articles or materials between conveyors B65G47/90, B65G47/91; manipulators with gripping or holding means for transferring packages B65H67/065}; cranes B66C; {manipulators used in the protection or supervision of pipe-line installations F17D5/00; walking equipment adapted for nuclear steam-generators F22B37/006}; manipulators specially adapted for, or associated with, nuclear reactors G21C; {apparatus used for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor H10P72/50}) ## Abstract A system includes an actuator couplable to a flexible guide tube, a processor, and memory. The actuator is configured to move the flexible guide tube. The memory stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to: identify at least one factor associated with insertion or removal of a tool configured to be inserted through or removed from the flexible guide tube; identify, in a first configuration of the flexible guide tube and based on the at least one factor, a section of the flexible guide tube having a bend that the tool cannot traverse; inform a user that the first configuration includes the section having the bend; and command the actuator to move the flexible guide tube to a second configuration. A distal portion of the flexible guide tube is disposed adjacent a target site in the first configuration. The second configuration does not include the bend. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A system comprising: an actuator couplable to a flexible guide tube and configured to move at least a portion of the flexible guide tube; a processor; and memory storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to: identify at least one factor associated with insertion or removal of a tool configured to be inserted through or removed from the flexible guide tube; identify, in a first configuration of the flexible guide tube and based on the at least one factor, one or more sections of the flexible guide tube having one or more bends that the tool cannot traverse, wherein a distal portion of the flexible guide tube is disposed adjacent a target site in the first configuration; inform a user that the first configuration includes the one or more sections of the flexible guide tube having the one or more bends that the tool cannot traverse; and command the actuator to move the flexible guide tube to a second configuration, wherein the second configuration does not include the one or more bends that the tool cannot traverse. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein identifying one or more sections of the flexible guide tube having one or more bends that the tool cannot traverse comprises determining whether one or more sections of the flexible guide tube has a radius of curvature smaller than a threshold radius of curvature. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the flexible guide tube comprises a catheter and the tool comprises a biopsy needle. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to automatically move the flexible guide tube from the first configuration to the second configuration. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the flexible guide tube comprises a shape sensor. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to command the actuator to return the flexible guide tube to the first configuration after the tool has been inserted into or removed from the flexible guide tube. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The system of claim 6, wherein commanding the actuator to return the flexible guide tube to the first configuration is performed in response to manual inputs from the user. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The system of claim 7, wherein the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to: record shape data indicating a shape of the flexible guide tube in the first configuration; and provide at least a portion of the shape data to the user via a display for manually navigating the flexible guide tube along a path indicated by the portion of the shape data. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to command the actuator to move the flexible guide tube into a third configuration after the tool has been inserted into or removed from the flexible guide tube. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to: determine, based on the at least one factor, a distance to which the tool should be inserted into the flexible guide tube; and convey, via a display, the distance to the user for manually inserting the tool into the flexible guide tube. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The system of claim 10, wherein the distance is determined based on a desired stiffness of the flexible guide tube with the tool inserted. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, further comprising the flexible guide tube. ### Claim 13 A process comprising: identifying, based on at least one factor associated with insertion or removal of a tool, one or more sections of a flexible guide tube in a first configuration having one or more bends that the tool would have difficulty traversing while the flexible guide tube is in the first configuration, wherein a distal portion of the flexible guide tube is disposed adjacent a target site in the first configuration; informing a user that the first configuration includes the one or more sections of the flexible guide tube having the one or more bends that the tool would have difficulty traversing; and moving, via actuation signals sent to an actuator coupled to the flexible guide tube, the flexible guide tube from the first configuration to a second configuration for receiving the tool, wherein the second configuration does not include the one or more bends that the tool would have difficulty traversing. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The process of claim 13, wherein identifying the one or more sections comprises determining that a radius of curvature of one or more sections of the flexible guide tube is smaller than a minimum radius of curvature permitted for a portion of the tool. ### Claim 15 (depends on 13) The process of claim 13, wherein identifying the one or more sections comprises determining a shape of the flexible guide tube in the first configuration. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The process of claim 15, wherein determining the shape of the flexible guide tube in the first configuration comprises measuring the shape of the flexible guide tube in the first configuration using at least one of a fiber optic shape sensor or a tracked movement of the distal portion of the flexible guide tube. ### Claim 17 (depends on 13) The process of claim 13, wherein a shape of a first portion of the flexible guide tube in the second configuration is substantially the same as a shape of a second portion of the flexible guide tube in the first configuration. ### Claim 18 (depends on 13) The process of claim 13, further comprising returning the flexible guide tube to the first configuration after the tool has been received into the flexible guide tube. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The process of claim 18, wherein returning the flexible guide tube to the first configuration is performed in response to manual inputs from the user. ### Claim 20 (depends on 13) The process of claim 13, further comprising: determining a distance to which the tool should be inserted into the flexible guide tube based on the at least one factor; and displaying the distance to the user for manually inserting the tool into the flexible guide tube.