The European Atomic Energy Community (euratom), Represented by the European Commission

Consejo Superior De Investigaciones Cientificas

General Equipment for Medical Imaging S.a.

Bruker Biospin Ag

Universitat Politécnica De Valência

Universidad Politècnica De València

General Equipment for Medical Imaging S.a. (oncovision)

The European Atomic Energy Community, Represented by the European Commission

Carlos Correcher Salvador

Emilio Ruiz Morales

Juan Vicente Catret Mascarell

Antonio Javier González Martínez

Laura Moliner Martínez

José María Benlloch Baviera

JosE Maria Benlloch Baviera

Antonio Javier Gonzalez Martinez

José Maria Benlloch Baviera

Filomeno Sanchez Martinez

Cesar Molinos Sonsona

César Molinos Solsona

Noriel Pavón Hernandez

A method of operating a minimally invasive medical system, including positioning a tip of a surgical instrument through an incision into a body cavity, the surgical instrument having an instrument shaft with a longitudinal instrument axis, mounting the surgical instrument to a manipulator, the manipulator including a force/torque sensor, moving the minimally invasive instrument along a first axis and a second axis, each of the first and second axes perpendicular to the instrument axis, until a reaction force along each axis is below a given threshold, and defining and axis coordinates of the external fulcrum at a location where the reaction forces along both axes are below the given threshold, and determining an axis coordinate position of the external fulcrum along the instrument axis by pivoting the instrument with respect to its tip until a sufficient contact force is reached, and determining the axis coordinate position using the lever principle.

Method of force estimation for a minimally invasive medical system and corresponding system

A minimally invasive medical system including a robot manipulator, having an effector unit equipped with a 6-degrees-of-freedom force/torque sensor and configured to hold a minimally invasive instrument having a first end mounted to the effector unit and a second end located beyond an external fulcrum that limits the instrument in motion, usually to degrees-of-freedom.

A PET imaging device for observing a brain includes a hollow three-dimensional structure with a shape capable of housing a head. The PET imaging device comprising multiple independent gamma ray detection modules that together form a structure capable of surrounding the head, said detection modules comprise continuous scintillation crystal blocks, wherein 'continuous' means that the crystal blocks can be continuous in one or in two directions, each of the continuous scintillation crystal blocks has a polygonal main cross-section, and said structure is an elongated structure having a major axis in a direction corresponding to the front-nape direction and a shorter axis in a direction corresponding to a straight line joining ears on the head. The continuous scintillation crystal blocks are positioned adjacent to fit laterally in an exact manner with each other throughout their entire thickness, building a mosaic, without gaps between adjacent crystal blocks and without overlapping each other.

PET imaging device for observing the brain

The invention relates to a PET imaging device for observing the brain, characterised by comprising a structure with a shape that is capable of accommodating a human head, having independent gamma-ray detection modules, said detection modules having continuous scintillation crystals with a polygonal main section, wherein all together the detection modules form a hollow three-dimensional structure that can surround the head, and with said three-dimensional structure being elongated and having a main axis in the direction corresponding to the forehead-nape direction and a shorter axis in the direction corresponding to the straight line joining the ears, and with the adjacent scintillation crystals fitting together laterally in a precise manner along their entire thickness, forming a mosaic-like structure, i.e. without leaving gaps and without overlapping with one another.

A method of force estimation for a minimally invasive medical system comprising a robot manipulator. The manipulator has an effector unit equipped with a 6-degrees-of-freedom force/torque sensor and is configured to hold a minimally invasive instrument having a first end mounted to the effector unit and a second end located beyond an external fulcrum that limits the instrument in motion, usually to 4 DOF. The method comprising the steps: determining a position of the instrument relative to the fulcrum; measuring by means of the 6-DOF force/torque sensor a force and a torque exerted onto the effector unit by the first end of the instrument; and calculating by means of the principle of superposition an estimate of a force exerted onto the second end of the instrument based on the determined position, the measured force and the measured torque.

Force estimation for a minimally invasive robotic surgery system

An apparatus to detect gamma rays, comprising a scintillator, a position sensitive photo sensor and a scintillation-light-incidence-angle-constraining, SLIAC, element, the scintillator has faces and the position sensitive photo sensor detects scintillation photons exiting a scintillation photons transparent face of the scintillator, and a portion of a scintillator face is covered with an absorbing layer, which absorbs scintillation photons created by scintillation events due to the interaction of incoming gamma rays with the scintillator, and the SLIAC element is optically coupled between a scintillation photons transparent face of the scintillator and the position sensitive photo sensor and the SLIAC element guides the scintillation photons exiting the scintillator towards the position sensitive photo sensor, and the SLIAC element restricts the maximum allowed half light acceptance angle for the scintillation light hitting the position sensitive photo sensor to less than 45&#xb0;.

Gamma ray scintillation detector preserving the original scintillation light distribution

A method of force estimation for a minimally invasive medical system comprising a robot manipulator (). The manipulator has an effector unit () equipped with a 6-degrees-of-freedom (DOF) force/torque sensor and is configured to hold a minimally invasive instrument () having a first end () mounted to the effector unit and a second end () located beyond an external fulcrum () that limits the instrument in motion, usually to 4 DOF. The method comprising the steps: &#x2014;determining a position of the instrument relative to the fulcrum; &#x2014;measuring by means of the 6-DOF force/torque sensor a force and a torque exerted onto the effector unit by the first end of the instrument; and &#x2014;calculating by means of the principle of superposition an estimate of a force exerted onto the second end of the instrument based on the determined position, the measured force and the measured torque.

A method of force estimation for a minimally invasive medical system including a robot manipulator having an effector unit equipped with a 6-degrees-of-freedom force/torque sensor and being configured to hold a minimally invasive instrument having a first end mounted to the effector unit and a second end located beyond an external fulcrum that limits the instrument in motion, where the method includes determining a position of the instrument relative to the fulcrum, measuring by means of the 6 degrees of freedom force/torque sensor a force and a torque exerted onto the effector unit by the first end of the instrument, and calculating by means of the principle of superposition an estimate of a force exerted onto the second end of the instrument based on the determined position, the measured force and the measured torque.

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Valencia, Spain

Carlos Correcher Salvador