Robotic arm having an extendable prismatic link
AssigneeVerb Surgical Inc.
InventorsRoman Devengenzo, Pablo Garcia Kilroy
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Robotic arms and surgical robotic systems incorporating such arms are described. A robotic arm includes a roll joint connected to a prismatic link by a pitch joint and a tool drive connected to the prismatic link by another pitch joint. The prismatic link includes several prismatic sublinks that are connected by a prismatic joint. A surgical tool supported by the tool drive can insert into a patient along an insertion axis through a remote center of motion of the robotic arm. Movement of the robotic arm can be controlled to telescopically move the prismatic sublinks relative to each other by the prismatic joint while maintaining the remote center of motion fixed. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.
Claims7
A surgical robotic system for maintaining a remote center of motion fixed, comprising:
- an operating table;
- a surgical tool configured for insertion along an insertion axis into a patient through the remote center of motion;
- and
- a robotic arm mounted under the operating table, wherein the robotic arm includes
- a tool drive supporting the surgical tool, and
- a plurality of joints or links including
- a roll joint extending along a roll axis that intersects the insertion axis at the remote center of motion, and a prismatic link connecting the roll joint to the tool drive, wherein the prismatic link has a first end and a second end, extends along a linear axis from the first end to the second end, and includes a plurality of prismatic sublinks coupled by a prismatic joint between the roll joint and the tool drive, and wherein the linear axis is oblique to the roll axis and intersects the insertion axis;
- wherein the plurality of joints or links are configured to be moved or guided under the control of a processor including telescopically moving the prismatic sublinks relative to each other by the prismatic joint to maintain the remote center of motion fixed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.