SURGICAL TOOL WITH A TWO DEGREE OF FREEDOM WRIST

• US 20110118709A1
• Filed: 11/12/2010
• Published: 05/19/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/13/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. (Intuitive Surgical Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. (Intuitive Surgical Holdings, LLC)
• Inventors: Burbank, William
• Granted Patent: US 8,852,174 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 606/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/00234 for minimally invasive surgery A61B17/0218, A61B17/0469, A61B17/12013, A61B17/1285, A61B17/29, A61B17/320016 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/064 Surgical staples, i.e. penetrating the tissue
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/28 Surgical forceps for holding suture needles or materials A61B17/0483; for removing or smashing calculi A61B17/221; surgical scissors A61B17/3201 ; obstetrical forceps A61B17/44; for inserting intraocular lenses A61F2/1662; hand-held gripping tools in general B25B7/00 ]
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/285 combined with cutting implements
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00526 Methods of manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2034/305 Details of wrist mechanisms at distal ends of robotic arms
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 34/10 Computer-aided planning, simulation or modelling of surgical operations
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 34/30 Surgical robots
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 34/37 Master-slave robots A61B34/35 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 34/71 Manipulators operated by drive cable mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: F16D 3/185 radial teeth connecting concentric inner and outer coupling parts
• CPC Class Codes: F16D 3/26 Hooke's joints or other joints with an equivalent intermediate member to which each coupling part is pivotally or slidably connected F16D3/18, F16D3/20 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 901/29 Wrist
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49826 Assembling or joining

Abstract

Surgical tools having a two degree-of-freedom wrist, wrist articulation by linked tension members, mechanisms for transmitting torque through an angle, and minimally invasive surgical tools incorporating these features are disclosed. An elongate intermediate wrist member is pivotally coupled with a distal end of an instrument shaft so as to rotate about a first axis transverse to the shaft, and an end effector body is pivotally coupled with the intermediate member so as to rotate about a second axis that is transverse to the first axis. Linked tension members interact with attachment features to articulate the wrist. A torque-transmitting mechanism includes a coupling member, coupling pins, a drive shaft, and a driven shaft. The drive shaft is coupled with the driven shaft so as to control the relative orientations of the drive shaft, the coupling member, and the driven shaft.

Claims

1. A minimally invasive surgical tool comprising:

a tubular instrument shaft having a proximal end and a distal end with a bore there between, the shaft having an instrument shaft axis;

an end effector comprising an end effector body;

an intermediate wrist member pivotally coupled with the distal end of the shaft and pivotally coupled with the end effector body, pivoting of the intermediate member relative to the shaft orienting the intermediate member about a first axis relative to the shaft, and pivoting of the end effector body relative to the intermediate member orienting the end effector about a second axis relative to the intermediate member, the first axis being transverse to the shaft axis, the second axis being transverse to the first axis, the intermediate member having an exterior width along the first axis and an exterior length along the second axis, the length being significantly different than the width so that the intermediate member has an elongate cross section; and

an actuation system extending distally through the bore of the shaft so as to orient the end effector body and actuate the end effector, a portion of the actuation system laterally separated from the elongate cross section of the intermediate member between the shaft and the end effector body.

2. The tool of claim 1, wherein the width of the intermediate member is less than one-fourth of the length of the intermediate member.

3. The tool of claim 1, wherein the first axis and the second axis are within 2 mm of being coplanar.

4. The tool of claim 3, wherein the first axis and the second axis are coplanar.

5. The tool of claim 1, further comprising a first joint pivotally coupling the shaft to the intermediate member, and a second joint pivotally coupling the intermediate member to the end effector body, wherein the first joint comprises a single pivot shaft extending along the first axis within the width of the intermediate member so that the first joint is disposed within a central region between the shaft and the end effector body clear of the laterally separated portion of the actuation system, wherein the second joint comprises first and second coaxial pivot shafts separated along the second axis.

6. The tool of claim 5, wherein the intermediate member comprises internal passages for guiding control cables of the actuation system between the instrument shaft and the end effector body and between the coaxial pivot shafts of the second joint.

7. The tool of claim 6, further comprising a support member fixedly coupled with the instrument shaft and pivotally coupled with the intermediate member for rotation about the first axis, the support member comprising internal passages for guiding control cables of the actuation system routed between a bore of the instrument shaft and the end effector body, wherein the guide surfaces constrain the control cables so as to inhibit altering cable tensions during pivoting about the first and second axes.

8. The tool of claim 1, wherein the laterally separated portion of the actuation system comprises a first rotatable drive shaft for driving a first actuation mechanism of the end effector, the first drive shaft being routed between the end effector body and the bore so as to pass adjacent to a first side of the intermediate member.

9. The tool of claim 8, wherein the laterally separated portion of the actuation system further comprises a second rotatable drive shaft for driving a second actuation mechanism of the end effector, the second drive shaft being routed between the end effector body and the bore so as to pass adjacent to a second side of the intermediate member, the second side being opposite the first side.

10. The tool of claim 1, wherein an orientation portion of the actuation system is operable to vary the orientation of the end effector body relative to the instrument shaft about the first and second axes, the orientation portion being back drivable so that forces applied to the end effector body so as to alter its orientation are transmitted proximally through the bore by the actuation system.

11. The tool of claim 1, wherein an actuation of the end effector comprises articulation of a joint of the end effector.

12. A method for manufacturing a minimally invasive surgical tool, the method comprising:

pivotally coupling an intermediate member to an instrument shaft for rotation about a first axis oriented non-parallel to an elongate direction of the instrument shaft;

pivotally coupling an end effector to the intermediate member for rotation about a second axis oriented non-parallel to the first axis and the elongate direction; and

coupling an actuation mechanism with the end effector, the actuation mechanism operable to vary the orientation of the end effector relative to the elongate direction in two dimensions, at least a portion of the actuation mechanism being routed between the end effector and a bore of the instrument shaft so as to pass outside of and separated from at least one side of the intermediate member.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the first axis is normal to the second axis and at least one of the first axis or the second axis is normal to the instrument-shaft elongate direction.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the intermediate member has an exterior width in the first-axis direction and a maximum exterior length in the second-axis direction that is greater than the width in the first-axis direction.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the intermediate member has a maximum exterior width in the first-axis direction is less than one-third of the exterior length.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein:

the intermediate member comprises internal passages for guiding control cables routed between the end effector and a bore of the instrument shaft, wherein the guide surfaces constrain the control cables so as to inhibit altering cable tensions during pivoting about the first and second axes; and

the method further comprises routing end effector control cables through the internal passages of the intermediate member.

17. The method of claim 12, further comprising back driving the actuation mechanism by varying the orientation of the end effector relative to the instrument shaft so that forces applied to the end effector so as to alter its orientation are transmitted proximally through the bore by the actuation system.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein an actuation of the end effector comprises articulating a joint of the end effector.

19. A minimally invasive surgical method comprising:

inserting a surgical end effector of a tool to an internal surgical site via a minimally invasive aperture or natural orifice;

pivoting an intermediate member of the tool relative to a shaft of the tool about a first joint so as to orient the intermediate member about a first axis relative to the shaft of the tool supporting the end effector;

pivoting the end effector relative to the intermediate member about a second joint so as to orient the end effector about a second axis relative to the intermediate member, one of the first joint and the second joint comprising a centrally located joint disposed within a central portion of a cross section of the tool; and

mechanically actuating the end effector with an actuation-system component that passes between the bore and the end effector laterally offset from the central joint.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein an actuation of the end effector comprises articulating a joint of the end effector.

21. A surgical instrument comprising:

an instrument shaft;

a surgical end effector; and

a wrist coupling the instrument shaft and the end effector such that the end effector moves relative to the shaft around a first wrist pivot axis and a second wrist pivot axis;

wherein the wrist comprises a support member and an intermediate member;

wherein the intermediate member comprises a first end, a second end, and a slot in the intermediate member along an axis between the first and second ends;

wherein the support member is pivotally coupled to the intermediate member inside the slot to define the first wrist pivot axis; and

wherein the second wrist pivot axis is defined between the first and second ends of the intermediate member.