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

European Atomic Energy Community (euratom)

The European Atomic Energy Community, Represented by the European Commission

Emilio Ruiz Morales

Carlos Correcher Salvador

Vitor Sequeira

Claudio Bergonzi

Jordi Cornella Medrano

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 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

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.

A medical robotic system () for performing medical procedures comprises a robot manipulator () for robotically assisted handling of a medical instrument, in particular a laparoscopic surgery instrument (). The robot manipulator () comprises a base (); a manipulator arm () with an essentially vertical part () supported by the base and with an essentially horizontal part () supported by the vertical part (); a manipulator wrist () supported by the manipulator arm (); and an effector unit () supported by the manipulator wrist and configured for holding a medical instrument. The manipulator arm () has a cylindrical PRP kinematic configuration for positioning the manipulator wrist. More particularly, the PRP kinematic configuration has the following joint sequence: a prismatic (P) first joint (J) for varying the height of the vertical part () by providing a translational degree of freedom along an essentially vertical axis, a revolute (R) second joint (J) for varying the rotational angle between the vertical part () and the horizontal part () by providing a rotational degree of freedom about an essentially vertical axis, and a prismatic (P) third joint (J) for varying the reach of the horizontal part by providing a translational degree of freedom along an essentially horizontal axis.

Medical robotic system

A robotic surgical system for performing minimally invasive medical procedures includes a robot manipulator for robotically assisted handling of a laparoscopic instrument having a manipulator arm, a manipulator wrist supported by the arm and an effector unit supported by the wrist, wherein the manipulator arm provides three degrees-of-freedom by means of a first joint, a second joint and a third joint, each having an associated actuator, for robotically positioning the wrist, the wrist providing two degrees-of-freedom by means of a fourth joint and a fifth revolute joint having an associated actuator, for robotically setting the yaw angle and the pitch angle of the effector unit respectively; the effector unit includes a laparoscopic instrument actuator and provides one degree-of-freedom by means of a revolute sixth joint having an associated actuator for robotically setting the roll angle of the LIA which includes a seat, with an associated coupling mechanism for mounting an instrument stem adaptor to the effector unit, and an actuation mechanism cooperating with the instrument stem adaptor for actuating a laparoscopic instrument connected to the adaptor. The effector unit is configured such that the rotation axis of the revolute sixth joint coincides with the longitudinal axis of a laparoscopic instrument mounted to the effector unit and the effector unit includes a sensor assembly having a 6 degree-of-freedom (DOF) force/torque sensor and a 6 DOF accelerometer. The sensor assembly connects the LIA to the sixth revolute joint.

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Taino, Italy

Emilio Ruiz Morales