SMART DRAPES FOR COLLISION AVOIDANCE

• US 20140130810A1
• Filed: 11/13/2013
• Published: 05/15/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. (Intuitive Surgical Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. (Intuitive Surgical Holdings, LLC)
• Inventors: Sorger, Jonathan, Azizian, Mahdi
• Application Number:
  US14/079,227
• Publication Number:
  US 20140130810A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 128/849
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00221 with wireless transmission of data, e.g. by infrared radiation or radiowaves
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 46/10 specially adapted for instruments, e.g. microscopes

Abstract

Embodiments of a smart surgical drape are disclosed. The surgical drape includes an insulating material and one or more sensors mounted with the insulating material, the one or more sensors detecting proximity between the surgical drape and a device. Some embodiments of the smart surgical drape can be utilized on surgical robots or other devices in the surgical area to detect potential collisions.

Claims

1. A surgical drape, comprising:

a drape material; and

one or more proximity sensors mounted on the insulating material, the one or more proximity sensors configured to detect proximity between the drape material and a device.

2. The surgical drape of claim 1, wherein the one or more proximity sensors includes a single conducting layer.

3. The surgical drape of claim 1, wherein the one or more proximity sensors includes an array of conducting layers.

4. The surgical drape of claim 2, wherein electrical connection to the single conducting layer is provided through one or more clips in the drape material.

5. The surgical drape of claim 2, wherein electrical connection to the array of conducting layers is provided through one or more clips in the drape material.

6. The surgical drape of claim 1, wherein the one or more proximity sensors includes at least one conducting layer and a capacitance is measured between the at least one conducting layer and the device.

7. The surgical drape of claim 1, wherein the one or more proximity sensors each includes a conducting layer and a capacitance is measured between each of the conducting layers and the device.

8. The surgical drape of claim 1, wherein the one or more proximity sensors include coils.

9. The surgical drape of claim 8, wherein the one or more proximity sensors are driven, and measurement of proximity to the device is performed utilizing induced currents.

10. The surgical drape of claim 8, wherein the one or more proximity sensors detect an electromagnetic field generated at the device.

11. The surgical drape of claim 1, wherein the one or more proximity sensors each include a transmitter and a receiver.

12. The surgical drape of claim 11, wherein the transmitters are acoustic and the receivers detect acoustical energy reflected from the device.

13. The surgical drape of claim 11, wherein the transmitters are optical and the receivers detect optical energy reflected from the device.

14. The surgical drape of claim 1, wherein the one or more proximity sensors include a cushion with a pressure sensor configured to sense pressure in the cushion, the one or more proximity sensors detecting contact with the device.

15. The surgical drape of claim 1, wherein the one or more proximity sensors include radio frequency identification devices.

16. The surgical drape of claim 1, wherein the one or more proximity sensors include shape sensing optical fiber.

17. The surgical drape of claim 1, further including a sampling unit that samples at least one proximity sensor of the one or more proximity sensors at a low frequency based on a determination of a probable location for a collision.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the one or more proximity sensors include capacitive proximity sensing.

18. A method of operating a robot, comprising:

moving the robot, wherein at least a portion of the robot is covered by a drape including one or more proximity sensors;

determining a proximity of a device with the at least one drape using the one or more proximity sensors; and

sending a signal when the proximity reaches a threshold value.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the one or more proximity sensors include conductors.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein the one or more proximity sensors include inductive proximity sensors.

22. The method of claim 18, wherein the one or more proximity sensors include acoustic proximity sensors.

23. The method of claim 18, wherein the one or more proximity sensors include optical proximity sensors.

24. The method of claim 18, wherein the one or more proximity sensors include shape sensitive optical fiber.

25. The method of claim 18, including

predicting which of the one or more sensors are likely to be in an area of a collision;

and

sampling sensors that are less likely to be in the area of a collision at a lower frequency than sensors that are in the likely area of collision or deactivating sensors with less likelihood of collision.