Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Canon U.s.a., Inc.

The Brigham and Women's Hospital, Inc.

Mitsubishi Paper Mills Limited

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation

Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.

Jtekt Corporation

The University of Tokyo

Compagnie Generale Des Etablissements Michelin

Nippon Mektron Limited

Elionix Inc.

Takahisa Kato

Yasuhiro Shimada

Yukio Furukawa

Takayuki Yagi

Kazutoshi Torashima

Nobuhiko Hata

Futoshi Hirose

Takahiro Akiyama

Susumu Yasuda

Brian Ninni

Hidemasa Mizutani

Suguru Miyagawa

Kayo Shimohama

Shoichiro Hayashi

Hirohisa Naguchi

Kazunari Fujii

Ichiro Okumura

Kiyoshi Takagi

Kazufumi Onuma

Seigo Ebato

Barret Daniels

Kemal Tuncali

Peter Tia

Devashree S Desai

Lydia G Olson

Masataka Okushita

Masahiro Suzuki

Junji Harada

Shinichiro Watanabe

Mamoru Tohyama

Junichi Tokuda

Hidekazu Kose

Hitoshi Nakamura

Shoji Hizatate

Fumitaro Masaki

Hidetaka Tsukada

Matthew Michael Kincaid

Masayo Kajiura

Hidehiko Okamoto

Masataka Nosaka

Yusuke Tanaka

Toru Nakakubo

Atsushi Kandori

Hidetoshi Matsumoto

Takayuki Teshima

Shigetoshi Hiraishi

Takashi Ushijima

Yoshio Hotta

Yoshihiro Ishibe

Haruhito Ono

Toshiyuki Ogawa

Peter D Jakab

Hideki Sekiguchi

Yasumichi Arimitsu

Franklin H King

Toshio Tomiyoshi

Sang-Eun Song

Tomoyuki Kawano

Kaoru Noguchi

Atsushi Murase

Shuichi Akasaka

Hayato Kobayashi

Makoto Ida

Satoshi Ebihara

Kiichiro Wakamatsu

John E Longan

Derek John Hugger

Kazuyuki Azuma

Takeo Wakabayashi

Kyoko Nakai

Laurent Chauvin

Katsuya Shito

Katsuyoshi Takagi

Luke McDonald Hydrick

Eric Penman Bogner

Federico Perego

Nobuto Sasaki

Tomohiro Shimokawaji

Hironao Amemiya

Elizabeth Rogers Kelly

An endoscope imaging system comprises a robotic controlled steerable catheter and an imaging device removably arranged in a tool channel of the catheter. One or more sensors or markers are configured to map a positional relation of the catheter with respect to an orientation of the imaging device. A controller drives the steerable catheter to manipulate the distal end thereof, while the imaging device acquires an image of a subject or sample. While the imaging device acquires the image, a processor calculates a change in positional relation of the catheter with respect to the orientation of the imaging device based on information provided by the one or more sensors or markers. An output unit provides an indication for remapping the orientation of the steerable catheter with respect to the orientation of the imaging device.

Robotic endoscope probe having orientation reference markers

A medical guidance apparatus () includes a base assembly () configured to be attached to a subject and a guide () configured to be removably mated with the base assembly (). The base assembly () has an opening (), and the guide () includes a rotatable ring () and an arc member (). The arc member () includes a first end () and a second end (), the first end of the arc member is connected to the rotatable ring () and the second end extends diametrically opposite to the first end across the rotatable ring. A probe holder () is mounted on the arc member () so as to hold a needle-like instrument () at a desired angle relative to an axis (Ax) of the rotatable ring (). In some embodiments, the arc member is monolithically integrated with the rotatable ring. In other embodiments, the arc member is pivotable and/or completely removable from the rotating ring.

Medical tool guidance apparatus

An apparatus, method, and system for a steerable medical instrument, configured to be used in conjunction with guided tools and devices under robotically controller medical procedures, including endoscopes, cameras, cutting tools and catheters. In one embodiment, the steerable instrument includes an elongate body (), a control wire () arranged in a channel () of the elongate body and displaceable along the channel to bend the elongate body; and a controller () to selectively control drive forces applied to the control wire () under an actively controlled mode and a passively controlled mode. In the actively controlled mode, the controller actively bends at least part of the elongate body. In the passively controlled mode, the controller () decreases an amount of strain or an amount of displacement of the control wire, so that the control wire becomes compliant to external forces.

Actively controlled steerable medical device with passive bending mode

The subject disclosure is directed to an articulated medical device having a sensor for detecting outside movements applied upon the medical device while in a subject or patient, wherein the device is capable of maneuvering within the subject or patient while taking the outsides movements into consideration.

Medical continuum robot extraction and methods thereof

An apparatus, method, and system for a steerable medical device, configured to be used in conjunction with guide tools and devices in medical procedures, including endoscopes, cameras, cutting tools and catheters.

Steerable medical device and method

The disclosure of this application relates generally to medical devices and in particular to a steerable medical instrument applicable to guide interventional tools and instruments, such as percutaneous biopsy and ablations tools and endoscopes. The steerable medical instrument has an outer and an inner tube where the inner tube is movable at the proximal end and fixed at the distal end. At least one of the outer tube and inner tube has a plurality of openings, which creates deformable portions so that the outer and the inner tubes can bend by moving the inner tube at the proximal end.

Steerable medical instrument

There is provided a medical support device for holding and positioning a needle. This device is particularly useful for positioning needles in a less invasive puncture treatment. This device comprises two rotational elements and at least one needle guide attached to a rotational element and. The needle guide guides the direction of insertion of a needle-like instrument and includes a guide portion that guides a needle or other needle-like instrument where the puncture point of the needle in a first position is different from the puncture point when the needle guide guides the needle in a second position.

Medical support device

A system and method configured to position medical instruments. The system and method includes an orientation localizer including at least one fiducial marker and having a localized plane, wherein the orientation localizer is mountable at a skin entry point on a patient, a computer configured to receive at least one medical image on the localized plane, register a position and orientation of the orientation localizer with the at least one medical image using the at least one fiducial marker, determine at least one cross sectional image based on the at least one medical image on the localized plane, and determine an insertion plane perpendicular to the localized plane, and an image display connected to the computer, wherein the image display displays the at least one cross sectional image on the localized plane and/or on the insertion plane.

Medical guidance system and method using localized insertion plane

The present invention provides a method and an apparatus for controlling a flexible manipulator including a plurality of bendable mechanisms via a control apparatus. The control apparatus includes a drive-mode selecting unit allows for the selection of a movement mode which may provide a bending movement, an angled view movement, or a remote center movement.

Method and apparatus for controlling manipulator

An apparatus including a tendon-driven device such as an endoscope comprising a bendable body, a tendon attached to and extending a length of said body, and an actuator that will actuate said tendon based on a control signal from a controller. The controller is configured to send said control signal to said actuator and comprises a forward-kinematic-mapping unit that estimates an angular displacement, wherein the kinematic-mapping unit is configured for: providing a tension value of the tendon to obtain a desired angular displacement wherein the tension has a nonlinear relationship with the desired angular displacement based on information of friction where the tension is greater that would be calculated without including the effect of friction. The friction coefficient may be determined as it changes over time.

Control apparatus and tendon-driven device

A continuum robot having at least two independently manipulatable bendable section for advancing the robot through a passage, without contacting fragile elements within the passage, wherein the robot incorporates control algorithms that enable the continuum robot to operate and advance into the passage, as well as the systems and procedures associated with the continuum robot and said functionality.

Continuum robot control methods and apparatus

Systems, methods, and computer-readable media are provided. Some embodiments include obtaining image data of a subject and a medical device, the medical device including fiducial markers, wherein the image data includes three-dimensional image data. Information is generated representing a three-dimensional shape based on a planned insertion point for performing a medical procedure. A cropping process is applied to the image data to generate cropped image data based on the three-dimensional shape. In some embodiments, the cropped image data includes image data of at least two of the fiducial markers. Fiducial marker objects are detected within the cropped image data, and the fiducial marker objects are registered by matching a model of the fiducial markers with the fiducial marker objects.

Automated image cropping for enhanced automatic device-to-image registration

This application provides a medical guidance device with an inertial measurement unit and a mechanical interface. This device can provide accurate and precise orientation of insertable medical tools is critical in surgical procedure, such as for placement of a needle-like instrument according to plan based on medical images (e.g., computed tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)) in percutaneous interventions.

Medical guidance device

A method of performing a percutaneous multi-probe treatment includes: acquiring a scan image of an object to be treated with multi-probe percutaneous insertions; determining a first point in a region of interest (ROI) in the scan image; determining a second point at a surface of the object in the scan image; generating a reference trajectory by connecting the first point and the second point; arranging, around the first point, a number of third points corresponding to tips of probes to be inserted into the object; generating planned insertion trajectories for the probes based on the number of probes to be inserted and the reference trajectory; and causing a monitor to display superposed on the scan image, at least one of the planned insertion trajectories. The planned insertion trajectories extend in a geometric relationship to the reference trajectory and pass through the third points and through one or more second points.

System and method for multiple probe percutaneous intervention

Exemplary relates to medical devices and in particular to a tool placement manipulator with multiple rotary guides and rotation bodies, the rotation bodies being free rotationally to the ring shaped rotary guides and rotational axis of the first rotary guide being slanted with respect to the rotational axis of the second rotary guide. The tool placement manipulator has at least one socket and at least one transmission element that transmits torques from the socket to rotation bodies.

Tool placement manipulator

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Takahisa Kato