Articulated surgical instrument for performing minimally invasive surgery with enhanced dexterity and sensitivity
AssigneeIntuitive Surgical, Inc.
InventorsAkhil Madhani, J. Salisbury
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An articulated surgical instrument for enhancing the performance of minimally invasive surgical procedures. The instrument has a high degree of dexterity, low friction, low inertia and good force reflection. A unique cable and pulley drive system operates to reduce friction and enhance force reflection. A unique wrist mechanism operates to enhance surgical dexterity compared to standard laparoscopic instruments. The system is optimized to reduce the number of actuators required and thus produce a fully functional articulated surgical instrument of minimum size.
Claims20
(canceled)
An articulated surgical instrument for minimally invasive surgery comprising:
- a bracket;
- an elongate support member having a proximal end coupled to the bracket, and a distal end inserted into the body of a patient during minimally invasive surgery;
- a wrist member coupled to the distal end of the elongate support member, the wrist member rotatable relative to the elongate support member about a first axis;
- a surgical end effector coupled to the wrist member, the surgical end effector comprising a first work member rotatable relative to the wrist member about a second axis;
- and
- actuators disposed at the bracket, the actuators coupled to the wrist member by cables to rotate the wrist member about the first axis, the actuators further coupled to the first work member by cables to rotate the first work member about the second axis.
A surgical instrument comprising:
- a bracket;
- an elongate support member having a proximal end coupled to the bracket, and a distal end inserted into the body of a patient during minimally invasive surgery;
- a wrist member coupled to the distal end of the elongate support member, the wrist member rotatable relative to the elongate support member about a first axis;
- a surgical end effector coupled to the wrist member, the surgical end effector comprising a first work member rotatable relative to the wrist member about a second axis;
- pulley means disposed at the wrist member for moving the wrist member and the surgical end effector;
- and
- actuation means disposed at the bracket for selectively actuating the pulley means.
A method of actuating a surgical instrument, the surgical instrument comprising a bracket, an elongate support member having a proximal end coupled to the bracket and a distal end inserted into the body of a patient during minimally invasive surgery, a wrist member coupled to the distal end of the elongate support member, and a surgical end effector coupled to the wrist member, the surgical end effector comprising a first work member, the method comprising:
- selectively actuating a plurality of actuators disposed at the bracket;
- rotating the wrist member relative to the elongate support member about a first axis in response to said selective actuation;
- and
- rotating the first work member relative to the wrist member about a second axis in response to said selective actuation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.