Manipulator positioning linkage for robotic surgery

A transportable robotic surgery system comprising:

• a cart having rolling elements for moving the cart between operating rooms;
• a plurality of robotic arms supported by the cart;
• a plurality of surgical implements supported by the arms;
• a control station couplable to the cart for directing robotic surgery;
• wherein at least one arm comprises
• a manipulator,
• a linkage coupled with the manipulator, the linkage comprising a plurality of joints, wherein at least a portion of the linkage is manually moveable, and
• a joint sensor system.

A method for preparing for robotic surgery, the method comprising:

• maintaining driven joints of a robotic surgical manipulator sufficiently near mid points of travel of the joints so as to inhibit interference with a limit of travel of the manipulator with in an intended worksite;
• pre-positioning the robotic manipulator by manually articulating a linkage while maintaining the driven joints near the mid points;
• and
• restraining the positioned manipulator with a brake system so as to preventarticulation of the linkage.

A method for performing robotic surgery, the method comprising:

• positioning a robotic surgical manipulator by manually articulating a linkage;
• restraining the positioned manipulator with a brake system so as to prevent manual articulation of the linkage;
• imaging a surgical end effector, supported by the positioned manipulator, in an imaging coordinate system;
• sensing a joint configuration of the restrained linkage;
• and
• actuating the restrained manipulator with a servomechanism by actuating a controller so as to robotically manipulate tissue with the end effector.

A method for performing robotic surgery, the method comprising:

• positioning a robotic surgical manipulator by manually articulating a linkage;
• restraining the positioned manipulator with a brake system so as to prevent manual articulation of the linkage;
• imaging a surgical end effector, supported by the positioned manipulator, in a imaging coordinate system;
• sensing a joint configuration of the restrained linkage;
• and
• actuating the restrained manipulator with a servomechanism by actuating a controller so as to robotically manipulate tissue with the end effector;
• transforming a controller coordinate system to the imaging coordinate system using the sensed joint configurations of the restrained linkage;
• and
• displaying the imaged end effector so that controller inputs correlate with end effector movements.

A method for performing robotic surgery, the method comprising:

• manually moving a manipulator relative to a base by articulating a plurality of fixable joints;
• actuating a brake to inhibit inadvertent manual movement of the positioned manipulator from articulation of the fixable joints;
• manipulating tissue with an end effector supported by the manipulator by actuating a plurality of driven joints of a robotic linkage with a servomechanism;
• and
• sensing positions of the fixable joints.

A robotic surgery system couplable to a base, the robotic surgery system comprising:

• a surgical end effector;
• a robotic linkage movably supporting the end effector, the robotic linkage comprising a plurality of driven joints coupled to a servomechanism for moving the end effector so as to manipulate tissues;
• a positioning linkage supporting the robotic linkage relative to the base;
• a plurality of releasably fixable joints for pre-configuring the positioning linkage, the fixable joints being fixed during manipulation of the end effector;
• and
• a joint sensor system coupling the fixable joints to the servomechanism, the sensor system generating joint configuration signals.

A robotic surgical system comprising:

• a surgical end effector;
• a linkage movably supporting the end effector;
• a servomechanism coupled to the linkage for driving a joint of the linkage;
• and
• a processor of the servomechanism the places the linkage in a pre-determined nominal configuration for a surgical procedure.