Tele-medicine system that transmits an entire state of a subsystem

• US 20030144649A1
• Filed: 09/17/2002
• Published: 07/31/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 01/16/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. (Intuitive Surgical Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Intuitive Surgical Incorporated (Intuitive Surgical Holdings, LLC)
• Inventors: Butner, Steve E., Ghodoussi, Modjtaba
• Granted Patent: US 6,951,535 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 606/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00707 Dummies, phantoms; Devices simulating patient or parts of patient
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2034/305 Details of wrist mechanisms at distal ends of robotic arms
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/064 for measuring force, pressure or mechanical tension
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 34/30 Surgical robots
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 34/35 for telesurgery
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 34/37 Master-slave robots A61B34/35 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 34/70 Manipulators specially adapted for use in surgery
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 34/75 Manipulators having means for prevention or compensation of hand tremors
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 34/76 Manipulators having means for providing feel, e.g. force or tactile feedback
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 34/77 Manipulators with motion or force scaling
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 90/361 Image-producing devices, e.g. surgical cameras
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation

Abstract

A tele-medicine system that includes an input device which can control a medical system. The input device may be the handle of a surgeon console. The medical system may include a robotically controlled medical device. A transmitter may transmit information relating to each state of the input device over a communication network. The medical system receives the transmitted state information through a receiver. The medical system changes state in response to the received state information from the input device. The system sends information relating to an entire state of the input device over a sample period to insure that the medical system receives all commands, data, etc. necessary to operate the system.

Claims

1. A tele-medicine system that communicates through a network, comprising:

an input device that has a series of states;

a transmitter coupled to said input device and transmits information that relates to each state of said input device through the network;

a receiver that receives the information related to each state; and

,

a medical system that is coupled to said receiver and changes states in response to the received information related to each state of said input device.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the information is transmitted within at least one packet.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein each packet contains a state field.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the packet is transmitted with UDP/IP protocol.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein each state is defined by a sample time identifier.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein said medical system includes a medical device coupled to a robotic arm.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the information includes robot data.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein said input device includes a handle.

9. A tele-medicine system that communicates through a network, comprising:

an input device that has a series of states;

transmitter means for transmitting information that relates to each state of said input device through the network;

receiver means for receiving the information related to each state; and

,

a medical system that changes states in response to the received information related to each state of said input device.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the information is transmitted within at least one packet.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein each packet contains a state field.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the packet is transmitted with UDP/IP protocol.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein each state is defined by a sample time identifier.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein said medical system includes a medical device coupled to a robotic arm.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the information includes robot data.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein said input device includes a handle.

17. A method for communicating information from an input device to a medical system over a network, comprising:

sampling a state of an input device to collect state information;

transmitting the state information over the network;

receiving the state information; and

,

changing a state of a medical system in response to the received state information.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the state information is transmitted in at least one packet.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the packet contains a state field.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the state information includes robot data.