Systems and methods for performing minimally invasive procedures

A robotic medical system configured for performing a medical procedure on an abnormality of a prostate of a patient, the system comprising:

• a controller including a master input device;
• an instrument driver in communication with the controller;
• an elongate flexible instrument operatively coupled to the instrument driver, whereby a distal end portion of the catheter instrument may be robotically manipulated by a remotely located system operator by corresponding manipulation of the master input device;
• a surgical tool operatively coupled to the controller and carried on the distal end portion of the flexible instrument, and
• an imaging system operatively coupled to the controller and configured to acquire and display an area of a patient's prostate containing the abnormality,
• wherein the controller and master input device are configured to allow a system operator to (i) create a restricted zone, based on the displayed image of the area of the prostate, into which the surgical tool is restricted from entering by a navigation logic of the robotically controlled system, and (ii) cause the instrument driver to manipulate the distal end portion of the flexible instrument so that the surgical tool is positioned proximate the prostate abnormality without entering the restricted zone, and
• wherein the operation of the surgical tool is at least partially automatically controlled based on the image obtained by the imaging system.