Surgical instrument coupling mechanism

A remotely controlled medical apparatus with two or more degrees of freedom of movement, comprising:

• means for coupling a surgical instrument to a slider mechanism, wherein a plurality of cables are coupled to a stationary location on the slider mechanism;
• means for pulling one of a first pair of flexible segments of the cables to thereby operate the slider mechanism and thus the surgical instrument in one degree-of-freedom of movement;
• and
• means for pulling one of a second pair of flexible segments of the cables to thereby operate the instrument in another degree-of-freedom of movement.

A surgical instrument system, comprising:

• a slider mechanism;
• a surgical instrument coupled to the slider mechanism;
• and
• a plurality of cables that operatively couple the slider mechanism and surgical instrument to a driver, wherein the driver is configured to operate the slider mechanism and thus the surgical instrument with a first degree-of-freedom of movement via a first cable of the plurality, and to operate the surgical instrument itself with a second degree-of-freedom of movement via a second cable of the plurality.