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AssigneeWorcester Polytechnic Institute
InventorsGregory S. Fischer, Hao Su
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A needle steering system and apparatus provides active, semi-autonomous control of needle insertion paths while still enabling a clinician ultimate control over needle insertion. A method and system controls the needle path as the needle is inserted by precisely controlling the rotation of the needle as it continuously rotates during insertion. This enables underactuated 2 degree-of-freedom (DOF) control of the direction and the curvature of the needle from a single rotary actuator. Control of the rotary motion is therefore decoupled from the needle insertion. The rotary motion controls steering effort and direction, while the insertion controls needle depth or insertion speed. In one implementation, the proposed method does not require constant velocity insertion, interleaved insertion and rotation, or known insertion position or speed. The insertion may be provided by a robot or other automated method, may be a manual insertion, or may be a teleoperated insertion.
In a surgical environment having an asymmetric tipped needle and a needle driving apparatus responsive to rotational control, a method of directing the needle comprising:
A method for inserting a needle with an asymmetric shaped tip into tissue along a curved path, wherein the needle is continuously rotated at a time-varying angular velocity;
The method of claim 23, wherein the time-varying angular velocity of the needle is controlled such that one actuator provides for control of both needle curvature and needle direction angle.
The method of claim 24, wherein control of the rotation of the needle is decoupled from control of the needle insertion motion along the length of the needle.
The method of claim 24, wherein needle curvature and needle insertion direction are controlled independently from needle insertion.
The method of claim 26, wherein needle insertion is manually controlled by a user.
The method of claim 27, wherein needle depth is controlled through a teleoperation interface and needle curvature and direction are controlled automatically.
The method of claim 28, further comprising incorporation of haptic feedback to the user through the teleoperation interface to reflect needle insertion forces or other feedback relating to the needle insertion process.
The method of claim 23 wherein a user controls needle insertion depth, wherein an automatic control system controls needle direction and curvature to maintain a path to a target location.
The method of claim 32, wherein the handheld instrument controls continuous needle rotation and a user manually controls needle insertion.
The method of claim 31, wherein the automatic control system manages the needle trajectory based on imaging feedback to provide closed loop control of the needle trajectory to reach a target.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.