Robot for minimally invasive interventions
First Claim
1. A robot for moving along an organ in a loosely bounded body cavity, comprising:
- means for locomotion along an organ, said means for locomotion including prehension means;
means for providing visual feedback; and
a control system for controlling said robot.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Rather than trying to immobilize a living, moving organ to place the organ in the fixed frame of reference of a table-mounted robotic device, the present disclosure teaches mounting a robot in the moving frame of reference of the organ. That task can be accomplished with a wide variety of robots including a miniature crawling robotic device designed to be introduced, in the case of the heart, into the pericardium through a port, attach itself to the epicardial surface, and then, under the direct control of the surgeon, travel to the desired location for treatment. The problem of beating-heart motion is largely avoided by attaching the device directly to the epicardium. The problem of access is resolved by incorporating the capability for locomotion. The device and technique can be used on other organs and on other living bodies such as pets, farm animals, etc. Because of the rules governing abstracts, this abstract should not be used in construing the claims.
210 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A robot for moving along an organ in a loosely bounded body cavity, comprising:
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means for locomotion along an organ, said means for locomotion including prehension means;
means for providing visual feedback; and
a control system for controlling said robot. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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- 11. A robot for use in a living body, the improvement comprising prehension means on only one side of the robot for attaching the robot to the soft tissue of an organ.
- 15. A method of using a robot in a living body, the improvement comprising attaching the robot to an organ.
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18. A method of positioning a robot on an organ within a living body, comprising:
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placing the robot on an organ;
affixing the robot to the organ so the robot is in the same frame of reference as the organ; and
enabling the robot to move along the organ while remaining in the same frame of reference as the organ.
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19. A robot for use in loosely bounded body cavities, comprising:
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a distal body and a proximal body, each carrying a prehension device;
a control system;
cables for serially interconnecting said control system to said distal body, said cables passing through said proximal body; and
sheaths carrying said cables between said control system and said proximal body.
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20. A method, comprising:
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establishing a length of cable between a control system and a proximal body and between the proximal body and a distal body, said cable passing through the proximal body and connected to the distal body, said cable carried in a flexible sheath between the control system and said proximal body;
anchoring the proximal body through the use of a prehension device;
moving the distal body forward by increasing the length of the cable between the proximal and distal body thereby causing said flexible sheath to deform;
anchoring the distal section through the use of a prehension device and releasing the proximal section; and
moving the proximal body by allowing the flexible sheath to return to its undeformed state.
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21. A method of tying a knot at a site within a body, comprising:
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maintaining a first end of a suture outside of a body;
delivering a second end of a suture to the site within the body through a minimally invasive opening;
operating a needle carrying the second end of the suture so as to pierce the tissue;
removing the second end of the suture from the needle;
delivering the second end of the suture outside of the body through the minimally invasive opening;
tying at least a portion of the knot outside the body;
pushing the portion of the knot from outside the body to the site using the minimally invasive opening;
tying the remainder of the knot outside the body; and
pushing the remainder of the knot from outside the body to the site using the minimally invasive opening to complete the knot.
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Specification