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US 8,617,053 B2Granted
Remote position control for surgical apparatus
AssigneeWarsaw Othropedic, Inc.
InventorsBrian W. Donovan, Bryan A. Click
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system for performing a minimally invasive surgical procedure includes a cannula, a surgical instrument for use through the cannula, and a remote positioning system to adjust the relative position between the surgical instrument and the cannula. By allowing a physician to perform the minimally invasive surgical procedure at a distance from the patient, the remote positioning system minimizes the radiation exposure of the physician while still providing accurate control over the procedure.
Claims20
A system comprising:
- a cannula extending along a longitudinal axis and comprising a lumen;
- a surgical instrument coaxial with the cannula, the surgical instrument being sized to perform a surgical procedure through the lumen;
- a positioning mechanism directly coupled to the cannula and the surgical instrument for moving the surgical instrument relative to the cannula, the positioning mechanism comprising a fixed element directly coupled to the cannula and an articulating element directly coupled to the surgical instrument such that the surgical instrument extends perpendicular to the articulating element, the fixed element comprising a first arm extending transverse to the axis and a second arm coupled to the first arm extending parallel to the axis, the articulating element being configured for axial translation along the second arm;
- and
- a remote position controller for providing a control signal to the positioning mechanism, the positioning mechanism moving the surgical instrument relative to the cannula in response to the control signal.
2 more elements
A method for performing a surgical procedure, the method comprising:
- providing a system comprising:
- a cannula extending along a longitudinal axis and comprising a lumen that defines an access path to a target surgical location,
- a surgical instrument coaxial with the cannula, the surgical instrument being sized to perform a surgical procedure through the lumen,
- a positioning mechanism directly coupled to the cannula and the surgical instrument for moving the surgical instrument relative to the cannula, the positioning mechanism comprising a fixed element directly coupled to the cannula and an articulating element directly coupled to the surgical instrument such that the surgical instrument extends perpendicular to the articulating element, the fixed element comprising a first arm extending transverse to the axis and a second arm coupled to the first arm extending parallel to the axis, the articulating element being configured for axial translation along the second arm, and
- a remote position controller for providing a control signal to the positioning mechanism, the positioning mechanism moving the surgical instrument relative to the cannula in response to the control signal;
- remotely controlling the positioning mechanism to adjust a position of the surgical instrument relative to the cannula.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.