Speech interface for an automated endoscopic system
AssigneeComputer Motion, Inc.
InventorsYulun Wang, Darrin Uecker
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A robotic system which controls the movement of a surgical instrument in response to voice commands from the user. The robotic system has a computer controlled arm that holds the surgical instrument. The user provides voice commands to the computer through a microphone. The computer contains a phrase recognizer that matches the user' speech with words stored in the computer. Matched words are then processed to determine whether the user has spoken a robot command. If the user has spoken a recognized robot command the computer will move the robotic arm in accordance with the command.
Claims26
A robotic system that controls a surgical instrument, comprising:
- a mechanism that can move the surgical instrument;
- an audio input device that receives a voice qualifier and a voice command from a user to move the surgical instrument, and provides an output signal that correspond to the voice command;
- and,
- a controller that receives said output signal from said audio input device and provides a movement output signal to said mechanism to move said mechanism and the surgical instrument in accordance with the voice command only when the voice qualifier accompanies the voice command.
A robotic system that controls a surgical instrument, comprising:
- a mechanism that can move the surgical instrument;
- audio input means for receiving a voice qualifier and a voice command from a user to move the surgical instrument and providing an output signal that correspond to the voice command;
- and,
- controller means for receiving said output signal from said audio input means and providing a movement output signal to said mechanism to move said mechanism and the surgical instrument in accordance with the voice command only when the voice qualifier accompanies the voice command.
A method for moving a surgical instrument, comprising the steps of:
- a) generating a voice qualifier and a voice command to move a mechanism that holds the surgical instrument;
- b) determining whether the voice qualifier matches a first robot command;
- c) determining whether the voice command matches a second robot command if the voice qualifier matched the first robot command;
- and,
- d) moving the surgical instrument with said mechanism only if the voice qualifier matches the first robot command and the voice command matches the second robot command.
A medical robotic system that controls a surgical instrument, comprising:
- an actuator;
- a linkage attached to said actuator and that can be coupled to the surgical instrument;
- an audio input device that receives a voice qualifier and a voice command from a user;
- and,
- a controller that is coupled to said audio input device and provides a movement output signal to said actuator to move said linkage in accordance with the voice command only when the voice qualifier accompanies the voice command.
A robotic system that controls a surgical instrument, comprising:
- a mechanism that can move the surgical instrument;
- audio input means for receiving voice qualifier and a voice command from a user to move the surgical instrument;
- and,
- controller means for moving said mechanism in accordance with the voice command only when the voice qualifier accompanies the voice command.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.