Master/slave system for the manipulation of tubular medical tools

Abstract

A master/slave system is used for performing a surgical procedure such as theterization of cardiac or peripheral vasculature. Movements of catheters or similar tools within a patient are remotely controlled by a surgeon, and the surgeon receives haptic or tactile feedback caused by the movement of the tools within the patient. The system employs a master actuator with cylindrical controls and a slave actuator that engages the tools. The master actuator and slave actuator are electrically coupled to electrical interface circuitry by drive signals and sense signals. A fluid system is coupled to the slave actuator by fluid-carrying tubes for the delivery of contrast and other solutions to be injected into the vasculature for improved imaging and also to pressurize the balloon on a balloon catheter. The master and slave actuators contain sensors that sense translation and rotation of the controls and tools with respect to their longitudinal axes, and provide sense signals indicative of these motions to the interface circuitry. The master and slave actuators also contain motors respectively engaging the controls and tools to cause translational and rotational movement of these components in response to the drive signals generated by the interface circuitry. The interface circuitry contains a processor executing a master/slave control program via which the relative positions of each control and the corresponding tool are made to track each other. The control program can optionally implement force scaling, position scaling, tremor reduction, and other features to enhance the system's performance.