Flexible wrist for surgical tool
First Claim
1. A minimally invasive surgical instrument comprising:
- an elongate shaft having a working end, a proximal end, and a shaft axis between the working end and the proximal end;
an end effector;
a wrist member having a flexible tube and an inner spring which include proximal portions connected to the working end of the elongate shaft and distal portions connected to the end effector, the inner spring being disposed inside an interior cavity of the flexible tube, the inner spring having an axis which is parallel to an axis of the flexible tube; and
a plurality of actuation cables having distal portions connected to the end effector and extending from the distal portion through the wrist member toward the elongate shaft to proximal portions which are actuatable to bend the wrist member in pitch rotation and yaw rotation.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention is directed to a tool having a wrist mechanism that provides pitch and yaw rotation in such a way that the tool has no singularity in roll, pitch, and yaw. In one embodiment, a minimally invasive surgical instrument comprises an elongate shaft having a working end, a proximal end, and a shaft axis between the working end and the proximal end; and an end effector. A wrist member has a flexible tube including an axis extending through an interior surrounded by a wall. The wall of the flexible tube includes a plurality of lumens oriented generally parallel to the axis of the flexible tube. The wrist member has a proximal portion connected to the working end of the elongate shaft and a distal portion connected to the end effector. A plurality of actuation cables have distal portions connected to the end effector and extend from the distal portion through the lumens of the wall of the wrist member toward the elongate shaft to proximal portions which are actuatable to bend the wrist member in pitch rotation and yaw rotation.
-
Citations
37 Claims
-
1. A minimally invasive surgical instrument comprising:
-
an elongate shaft having a working end, a proximal end, and a shaft axis between the working end and the proximal end;
an end effector;
a wrist member having a flexible tube and an inner spring which include proximal portions connected to the working end of the elongate shaft and distal portions connected to the end effector, the inner spring being disposed inside an interior cavity of the flexible tube, the inner spring having an axis which is parallel to an axis of the flexible tube; and
a plurality of actuation cables having distal portions connected to the end effector and extending from the distal portion through the wrist member toward the elongate shaft to proximal portions which are actuatable to bend the wrist member in pitch rotation and yaw rotation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. A minimally invasive surgical instrument comprising:
-
an elongate shaft having a working end, a proximal end, and a shaft axis between the working end and the proximal end;
an end effector;
a wrist member having a flexible tube including an axis extending through an interior surrounded by a wall, the wall of the flexible tube including a plurality of lumens oriented generally parallel to the axis of the flexible tube, the wrist member having a proximal portion connected to the working end of the elongate shaft and a distal portion connected to the end effector; and
a plurality of actuation cables having distal portions connected to the end effector and extending from the distal portion through the lumens of the wall of the wrist member toward the elongate shaft to proximal portions which are actuatable to bend the wrist member in pitch rotation and yaw rotation. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
-
-
27. A minimally invasive surgical instrument comprising:
-
an elongate shaft having a working end, a proximal end, and a shaft axis between the working end and the proximal end;
an end effector;
a wrist member having an inner spring which includes a proximal portion connected to the working end of the elongate shaft and a distal portion connected to the end effector, the wrist member having a plurality of annular disks distributed along an axis of the inner spring, the annular disks each having an inside edge connected with the inner spring; and
a plurality of actuation cables having distal portions connected to the end effector and extending from the distal portion through the wrist member toward the elongate shaft to proximal portions which are actuatable to bend the wrist member in pitch rotation and yaw rotation. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
-
Specification