SURGICAL ROBOT SYSTEM AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF

• US 20140324070A1
• Filed: 01/23/2014
• Published: 10/30/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Roh, Kyung Shik, MIN, Seung Ki
• Granted Patent: US 9,402,688 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 606/130
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00123 and automatic shutdown
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 34/30 Surgical robots
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 34/37 Master-slave robots A61B34/35 takes precedence

Abstract

A surgical robot system and a control method thereof include a slave device and a master device to control motion of the slave device. The surgical robot system further includes a monitoring device that inspects a signal transmitted within the system in real time to stop motion of the slave device if an abnormal signal is detected.

Claims

1. A surgical robot system comprising a slave device and a master device to control a motion of the slave device, the system further comprising a monitoring device to inspect a signal transmitted within the system in real time to stop the motion of the slave device if an abnormal signal is detected.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring device includes:

a signal collector to collect the signal transmitted within the system in real time;

a signal analyzer to analyze the collected signal; and

a controller to control real-time collection of the signal transmitted within the system using the signal collector and the analysis of the collected signal using the signal analyzer, and to stop the motion of the slave device if an abnormal signal is detected.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the monitoring device inspects a signal transmitted between the master device and the slave device in real time.

4. The system according to claim 3, wherein the monitoring device is separated from the master device and the slave device.

5. The system according to claim 3, wherein the monitoring device is located inside the master device or inside the slave device.

6. The system according to claim 5, further comprising a power source unit connected to the monitoring device.

7. The system according to claim 3, wherein the controller is adapted to monitor periodic communication between the master device and the slave device and to stop motion of the slave device if periodic communication is not detected.

8. The system according to claim 7 wherein the slave device includes:

a plurality of drive units to drive a plurality of joints of a robot arm and a plurality of joints of a surgical instrument; and

an emergency brake unit to interrupt power to be applied to the plurality of drive units, and

wherein the controller controls interruption of power to be applied to the plurality of drive units using the emergency brake unit to stop the motion of the slave device.

9. The system according to claim 2, wherein the monitoring device further includes:

a communication unit; and

a brake signal generator to generate a brake signal to stop the motion of the slave device, and

wherein the controller transmits the brake signal to the slave device via the communication unit to stop the motion of the slave device.

10. The system according to claim 2, wherein the slave device includes:

a plurality of drive units to drive a plurality of joints of a robot arm and a plurality of joints of a surgical instrument;

an emergency brake unit to interrupt power to be applied to the plurality of drive units; and

a controller to transmit a drive signal to the plurality of drive units to operate the robot arm and the surgical instrument, and

wherein the controller of the monitoring device inspects the drive signal in real time and interrupts power to be applied to the plurality of drive units via the emergency brake unit if an abnormal drive signal is detected to stop the motion of the slave device.

11. The system according to claim 10, wherein the monitoring device is located inside or outside the slave device.

12. The system according to claim 11, further comprising a power source unit connected to the monitoring device if the monitoring device is located inside the slave device.

13. A control method of a surgical robot system, the surgical robot system comprising a slave device and a master device to control motion of the slave device, the method comprising:

collecting a signal transmitted within the system;

determining whether the collected signal is normal via analysis of the signal; and

stopping a motion of the slave device if the signal is judged abnormal.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein judgment of whether the collected signal is normal via analysis of the signal includes:

determining whether the signal is a normal signal or an abnormal signal; and

determining whether the master device and the slave device periodically communicate with each other.

15. The method according to claim 13, wherein stopping of the motion of the slave device is implemented by interrupting power to be applied to a drive unit that drives at least one joint of the slave device.

16. A monitoring device connected to a master device and a slave device or a surgical robot, the monitoring device comprising:

a signal collector to collect a signal generated by at least one of the master device or slave device;

a signal analyzer to analyze the collected signal; and

a controller to stop a motion of the slave device if an abnormal signal is detected based on the analysis of the collected signal.

17. The monitoring device according to claim 16, further comprising a brake signal generator to generate a brake signal to stop a motion of the slave device if an abnormal signal is detected.

18. The monitoring device according to claim 17, wherein the controller of the monitoring device selectively stops a motion of the slave device according to whether it is determined a controller of the slave device has malfunctioned.

19. The monitoring device according to claim 18, wherein if it is determined the controller of the slave device has not malfunctioned, the controller of the monitoring device transmits a brake signal generated by the brake signal generator to the slave device to direct the controller of the slave device to stop the motion of the slave device.

20. The monitoring device according to claim 18, wherein if it is determined the controller of the slave device has malfunctioned, the controller of the monitoring device directly controls an emergency brake unit of the slave device to interrupt power applied to at least one drive unit of the slave device, to stop the motion of the slave device.