Cmr Surgical Limited

Gordon Thomas Deane

Paul Christopher Roberts

Graham John Veitch

Edward John Mottram

Luke David Ronald Hares

Rebecca Anne Cuthbertson

Edward James Wildin Tucker

Keith Marshall

Ross Hamilton Henrywood

Simon Schofield

Rachel Marie Garsed

Edward Tucker

Thomas Bates Jackson

Ricardo Michael Henderson Da Silva

Duncan Robinson

Hamish Henderson

A surgical robot with a surgical robot arm and a surgical robot arm controller. The surgical robot arm has a set of joints and a joint controller. The joint controller is configured to drive a joint of the set of joints. The surgical robot arm controller has a processor and watchdog circuitry. The processor is configured to send joint driving signals to the joint controller on a communication link. The watchdog circuitry is configured to: receive sequence values from the processor; determine whether each received sequence value matches a next expected value of a predetermined sequence; and if the received sequence value does not match the next expected value of the predetermined sequence, disable the communication link between the processor and the joint controller.

Watchdog circuitry of a surgical robot arm

A control system for a surgical robotic system, the surgical robotic system comprising a remote surgeon console and an articulated surgical robot arm comprising a series of joints extending from a base to a terminal end for attaching to an articulated surgical instrument. The control system comprises a central controller communicatively coupled to and remotely located from an arm controller of the surgical robot arm, the central controller also communicatively coupled to a surgeon input device of the surgeon console. The central controller is configured to: receive a command from the surgeon input device indicating a desired position of a distal end of the surgical instrument; transform the desired position of the distal end to (i) a desired wrist position of a wrist of the surgical robot arm, and (ii) desired instrument drive joint positions for those joints of the surgical robot arm which drive joints of the articulated surgical instrument; and transmit the desired wrist position and desired instrument drive joint positions to the arm controller.

Controlling movement of a surgical robot arm

An electrosurgical connection unit for a surgical robot arm to connect an electrosurgical instrument attached to the arm to an electrosurgical generator. The electrosurgical connection unit includes an input port connectable to the electrosurgical generator, the input port configured to receive a driving electrosurgical signal and output one or more activation signals; an output port connectable to the electrosurgical instrument, the output port configured to output the driving electrosurgical signal received on the input port; one or more activation switch units, wherein activation of an activation switch unit causes an activation signal to be output from the input port indicating a driving electrosurgical signal with a desired waveform is to be activated; and a control unit configured to selectively activate one of the one or more activation switch units in response to a control signal.

Electrosurgical connection unit

A control system for a surgical robotic system, the surgical robotic system comprising a remote surgeon console having a surgeon input device, and a surgical robot arm comprising a series of joints extending from a base to a terminal end for attaching to a surgical instrument, the surgical robot arm operable in a full power mode in which the joints of the surgical robot arm are powered by a first power source and a reduced power mode in which the joints of the surgical robot arm are powered by a second power source, he control system configured to: whilst the surgical robot arm is operating in the full power mode, control the surgical robot arm in a surgical mode by converting inputs from the surgeon input device to control signals for moving joints of the surgical robot arm; detect a power failure of the first power source; in response to detecting the power failure, enable the reduced power mode, and control the surgical robot arm in a locked mode by sending control signals to lock joints of the surgical robot arm; whilst in the reduced power mode, detect a cessation of the power failure; and in response to detecting the cessation of the power failure, disable the reduced power mode, re-enable the full power mode, and control the surgical robot arm in the surgical mode.

Powering a surgical robot arm

A control system for a surgical robotic system, the surgical robotic system comprising a remote surgeon console having a surgeon input device, and a surgical robot arm comprising a series of joints extending from a base to a terminal end for attaching to a surgical instrument, the surgical robot arm operable in a full power mode in which the joints of the surgical robot arm are powered by a first power source and a reduced power mode in which the joints of the surgical robot arm are powered by a second power source, the control system configured to: whilst the surgical robot arm is operating in the full power mode, control the surgical robot arm in a surgical mode by converting movements of the surgeon input device to control signals for moving joints of the surgical robot arm; detect a power failure of the first power source; in response to detecting the power failure, enable the reduced power mode, and transition control of the surgical robot arm from the surgical mode to a standby mode; whilst in the reduced power mode, receive a command from a user input located on or adjacent to the surgical robot arm or on the surgeon console; and in response to receiving the command, transition control of the surgical robot arm from the standby mode to a calibration mode.

A control system for controlling a surgical robot by a surgeon console remote from the surgical robot, the control system being configured to: receive one or more state signal associated with a plurality of instruments, each of the plurality of instruments being attachable to the surgical robot, the one or more state signal indicating a selectability of each of the plurality of instruments for control by the surgeon console, and a control mode of each of the plurality of instruments from a group of modes, the group of modes comprising a manipulation mode in which an instrument of the plurality of instruments is controllable by the surgeon console, and a selection mode in which an instrument of the plurality of instruments is selectable for control by the surgeon console; determine a graphical arrangement of icons for display in dependence on the received one or more state signal, where each icon represents a respective one of the plurality of instruments, and output a display signal to cause the graphical arrangement of icons to be displayed; receive a mode change signal.

Control system for controlling a surgical robot

A control system for controlling manipulation of a surgical instrument in response to manipulation of a remote surgeon input device at a remote surgeon's console, the surgical instrument being supported by a surgical robot arm, the surgical instrument comprising an end effector connected to a distal end of a shaft by an articulated coupling, the articulated coupling comprising one or more joints enabling the end effector to adopt a range of attitudes relative to the distal end of the shaft, the control system configured to: receive a command from an input actuated by a user to straighten the surgical instrument; and in response to the received command, to command driving forces to be applied to joint(s) of the articulated coupling to drive the instrument to adopt a predetermined configuration in which the profile of the end effector is most closely aligned with the profile of the distal end of the shaft.

Controlling a surgical instrument

A method for controlling a mechanical system having a plurality of components interlinked by a plurality of driven joints, the method comprising: measuring torques or forces about or at the driven joints and forming a load signal representing the measured torques or forces; receiving a motion demand signal representing a desired state of the system; implementing an impedance control algorithm in dependence on the motion demand signal and the load signal to form a target signal indicating a target configuration for each of the driven joints; measuring the configuration of each of the driven joints and forming a state signal representing the measured configurations; and forming a set of drive signals for the joints by, for each joint, comparing the target configuration of that joint as indicated by the target signal to the measured configuration of that joint as indicated by the state signal.

Robot control

A method for limiting joint velocity of a plurality of joints of a surgical robotic system, the surgical robotic system comprising a robot having a base and an arm extending from the base to an attachment for an instrument, the arm comprising a plurality of joints whereby the configuration of the arm can be altered, the method comprising: obtaining joint states for a first group of k joints of the arm, where k>1; for each of the k joints: determining from the obtained joint state a permitted range of motion for that joint; deriving, using the permitted range of motion, a joint velocity limit for that joint; selecting the minimum joint velocity limit of the k joints to be a common joint velocity limit used to limit each of the k joints individually; and calculating drive signals for driving the k joints wherein the velocity of each of the k joints is limited using the common joint velocity limit.

Robotic joint control

A control system configured to control manipulation of a surgical instrument in response to manipulation of a remote surgeon input device. The surgical instrument comprises an end effector having opposable first and second end effector elements connected to a shaft by an articulated coupling. The control system receives a command from the surgeon input device to both (i) change the orientation of the end effector, and (ii) open the first and second end effector elements relative to each other. In response to the command to change the orientation of the end effector, the control system determines an angle θ between the longitudinal axis of the articulated coupling and the end effector. In response to the command to open the first and second end effector elements, the control system determines an opening angle ϕ between the first and second end effector elements. The control system compares θ to a maximum angle θbetween the longitudinal axis of the articulated coupling and the end effector, and if θ>θ, drives the first and second end effector elements to rotate such that (i) the angle between the longitudinal axis of the articulated coupling and the end effector is θ, and (ii) the opening angle between the first and second end effector elements is ϕ.

Token-based electrosurgical instrument activation

A control system configured to control manipulation of a surgical instrument in response to manipulation of a remote surgeon input device. The surgical instrument comprises opposable first and second end effector elements connected to a shaft by an articulated coupling. The articulated coupling comprises a first joint driveable by a first pair of driving elements so as to permit the first end effector element to rotate, and a second joint driveable by a second pair of driving elements so as to permit the second end effector element to rotate. The control system: responds to a closing motion of the surgeon input device by commanding maximum forces to be applied to the first and second pairs of driving elements, so as to cause the first and second end effector elements to rotate in opposing rotational directions towards each other with a maximum closing force; and on detecting that the closing motion of the surgeon input device has ceased, commanding a reduction in the force applied to the first and second pairs of driving elements, thereby enabling both the first and second end effector elements to be rotated in the same rotational direction in response to a yawing motion of the surgeon input device.

A method of controlling movement of the tip of a surgical endoscope from a first position (E) to an intermediate position (E'), the field of view from the tip of the endoscope being at an angle (&#x3b1;) relative to a longitudinal shaft of the endoscope, the method comprising: receiving a command to move from the first position in a first direction; identifying a nominal view point (N) from the tip of the endoscope in the first position; calculating a tip movement path from the first position based on the received command, the identified nominal view point and the angle (&#x3b1;); determining the intermediate position; and moving the tip to the intermediate position, the intermediate position being such that the nominal view point remains within the field of view from the tip.

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Cambridge, United Kingdom

Gordon Thomas Deane