Articulated surgical instrument for performing minimally invasive surgery with enhanced dexterity and sensitivity

An articulated surgical instrument for minimally invasive surgery comprising a support bracket, an elongate support member, a wrist mechanism, a surgical end effector, four actuators and four cables wherein:

• the four actuators are mounted on the support bracket;
• the elongate support member has a proximal end and a distal end and a support axis running longitudinally along the elongate support member from the proximal end to the distal end;
• the proximal end of the support member is coupled to the support bracket by a rotary joint for rotation about the support axis and a linear joint for reciprocal motion along the support axis;
• the distal end of the support member is connected to the wrist mechanism;
• the wrist mechanism supports the surgical end effector;
• the surgical end effector comprises a first work member;
• and
• the four actuators are coupled by the four cables to the wrist mechanism, the rotary joint and the linear joint such that selective actuation of the actuators operates to move the first work member of the surgical end effector about two orthogonal axes with two degrees-of-freedom relative to the support member, extend and retract the support member along the support axis relative to the support bracket and rotate the support member about the support axis relative to the support bracket and thereby move the first work member of the surgical end effector relative to the support bracket with four degrees-of-freedom.