Mechanisms and methods with one-way braking to control movement of a head of a medical system relative to an anatomical site

A medical system comprising:

• a head having an end arranged to face a reference plane;
• and
• a multistage slide mechanism coupled with the head and comprising a coarse-float mechanism with a brake configured to transition between a two-way unlocked state and an one-way unlocked state in response to a presence of or an absence of a first triggering event, wherein:
• in the two-way unlocked state, the brake allows movement of the head toward the reference plane and movement of the head away from the reference plane, and
• in the one-way unlocked state, the brake prevents movement of the head toward the reference plane and simultaneously allows movement of the head away from the reference plane.

A control system for controlling a brake system of a medical system, the brake system configured to be set to either of a locked state and an unlocked state, the medical system having a head, a cone attachment mechanism configured to secure the head to a patient interface, and an eye attachment mechanism configured to secure the patient interface to an anatomical site, the control system comprising:

• a set of sensors including one or more of:
• a displacement sensor configured to provide sensor signals indicative of movement of the head through a fine-float mechanism,
• a cone attachment sensor configured to provide a sensor signal indicative of a coupling between the head and the patient interface, and
• an eye attachment sensor configured to provide a sensor signal indicative of a coupling between the patient interface and the anatomical site,
• a set of operator controls configured to provide control signals indicative of an operator initiated brake release;
• and
• a controller coupled to the set of sensors and the set of operator controls, and comprising a brake control module configured to set the state of the brake system based on one or more of the sensor signals from the displacement sensor, the sensor signals from the cone attachment sensor, the sensor signals from the eye attachment sensor, and the control signals from the set of operator controls.

A method of coupling a head of a medical system to an anatomical site, the method comprising:

• moving the head relative to the anatomical site;
• and
• responsive to a presence of a first triggering event, preventing movement of the head toward the anatomical site while allowing movement of the head away from the anatomical site,
• wherein moving the head relative to the anatomical site comprises:
• counterbalancing a load mass comprising the head to a first weight while moving the head by a coarse-float mechanism of a multistage slide mechanism;
• and
• counterbalancing a load mass comprising the head to a second weight less than the first weight while moving the head by a fine-float mechanism of the multistage slide mechanism.

A medical system comprising:

• a head having an end arranged to face a reference plane;
• and
• a multistage slide mechanism coupled with the head and comprising a coarse-float mechanism configured to:
• enable movement of the head relative to the reference plane, and
• prevent movement of the head toward the reference plane while allowing movement of the head away from the reference plane, in response to a presence of a first triggering event;
• a one-way brake associated with the coarse-float mechanism and configured to transition between a locked state and an unlocked state in response to a presence of or an absence of the first triggering event, wherein:
• in the locked state, the one-way brake prevents movement of the head toward the reference plane and simultaneously allows movement of the head away from the reference plane;
• and
• in the unlocked state, the one-way brake allows movement of the head toward the reference plane and movement of the head away from the reference plane
• wherein the coarse-float mechanism comprises a coarse backplate and a coarse travel plate having respective surfaces facing each other to form a wedge space having a narrow portion and a wide portion, and the one-way brake comprises:
• an actuator coupled with the multistage slide mechanism and the head and arranged and configured to slide relative to the coarse-float mechanism;
• and
• a roller mechanically coupled with the actuator and positioned in the wedge space,
• wherein movement of the actuator away from the reference plane results in a corresponding movement of the roller toward the narrow portion of the wedge space, and the one-way brake enters the locked state when the roller is wedged between the respective surfaces of the coarse backplate and a coarse travel plate.

A medical system comprising:

• a head having an end arranged to face a reference plane, the head configured to couple to an anatomical site through a patient interface that is coupled to the anatomical site;
• a first detection mechanism configured to detect a presence of or an absence of a first triggering event that corresponds to a valid coupling between a cone attachment of the head and the patient interface;
• and
• a multistage slide mechanism coupled with the head and comprising a coarse-float mechanism configured to:
• enable movement of the head relative to the reference plane, and
• prevent movement of the head toward the reference plane while allowing movement of the head away from the reference plane, in response to a presence of a first triggering event,
• wherein the first detection mechanism comprises at least one of:
• a sensor configured to sense a threshold weight or force at the patient interface;
• a sensor configured to sense a position of an exterior surface of the cone attachment relative to an interior of the patient interface;
• and
• a sensor configured to sense a change in air pressure or air flow rate associated with a vacuum tube coupled to the patient interface.