Performing cardiac surgery without cardioplegia
First Claim
1. A method of performing a surgical procedure on a beating heart of a patient, the method including:
- positioning an end effector in close proximity to a surgical site on the heart at which site a surgical procedure is to be performed, the end effector being mounted on a robotically controlled arm;
providing a brace member mounted on another robotically controlled arm;
forwarding command signals to actuators operatively associated with the another robotically controlled arm to cause the arm to move the brace member from a position clear of the heart to a position in contact with the heart;
bracing the beating heart with a brace member to at least reduce motion of the surgical site;
inputting an end effector movement command signal; and
forwarding the end effector movement command signal to actuators operatively associated with the robotically controlled arm to cause the end effector to move relative to the surgical site so as to perform at least part of the surgical procedure at the surgical site.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A surgical system or assembly for performing cardiac surgery includes a surgical instrument; a servo-mechanical system engaged to the surgical instrument for operating the surgical instrument; and an attachment assembly for removing at least one degree of movement from a moving surgical cardiac worksite to produce a resultant surgical cardiac worksite. The surgical system or assembly also includes a motion tracking system for gathering movement information on a resultant surgical cardiac worksite. A control computer is engaged to the attachment assembly and to the motion tracking system and to the servo-mechanical system for controlling movement of the attachment assembly and for feeding gathered information to the servo-mechanical system for moving the surgical instrument in unison with the resultant surgical cardiac worksite such that a relative position of the moving surgical instrument with respect to the resultant surgical cardiac worksite is generally constant. A video monitor is coupled to the control computer; and an input system is coupled to the servo-mechanical system and to the control computer for providing a movement of the surgical instrument. The video monitor displays movement of the surgical instrument while the resultant surgical cardiac worksite appears substantially stationary, and while a relative position of the surgical instrument moving in unison with the resultant surgical cardiac worksite, as a result from the movement information gathered by the motion tracking system, remains generally constant. A method of performing cardiac surgery without cardioplegia comprising removing at least one degree of movement freedom from a moving surgical cardiac worksite to produce at least a partially stationary surgical cardiac worksite while allowing a residual heart section, generally separate from the at least partially stationary surgical cardiac worksite, to move as a residual moving heart part. Cardiac surgery is performed on the at least partially stationary cardiac worksite with a surgical instrument such as needle drivers, forceps, blades and scissors.
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Citations
75 Claims
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1. A method of performing a surgical procedure on a beating heart of a patient, the method including:
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positioning an end effector in close proximity to a surgical site on the heart at which site a surgical procedure is to be performed, the end effector being mounted on a robotically controlled arm;
providing a brace member mounted on another robotically controlled arm;
forwarding command signals to actuators operatively associated with the another robotically controlled arm to cause the arm to move the brace member from a position clear of the heart to a position in contact with the heart;
bracing the beating heart with a brace member to at least reduce motion of the surgical site;
inputting an end effector movement command signal; and
forwarding the end effector movement command signal to actuators operatively associated with the robotically controlled arm to cause the end effector to move relative to the surgical site so as to perform at least part of the surgical procedure at the surgical site. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
monitoring the reduced motion of the surgical site;
computing end effector tracking command signals in response to the reduced monitored motion of the surgical site; and
forwarding the tracking command signals to the actuators to cause the arm to move the end effector generally to track motion of the surgical site.
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14. A method as claimed in claim 13, in which monitoring motion of the surgical site includes contacting the surgical site with a motion detector, permitting the motion detector to move in sympathy with the surgical site and monitoring movement of the motion detector so as to monitor motion of the surgical site.
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15. A method of performing a surgical procedure on a beating heart of a patient, the method including:
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positioning an end effector in close proximity to a surgical site on the heart at which site a surgical procedure is to be performed, the end effector being mounted on a robotically controlled arm;
bracing the beating heart with a brace member to at least reduce motion of the surgical site;
monitoring the reduced motion of the surgical site by securing at least one target marker on the surgical site and monitoring movement of the target marker so as to monitor motion of the surgical site;
computing end effector tracking command signals in response to the reduced monitored motion of the surgical site; and
forwarding the tracking command signals to actuators to cause the arm to move the end effector generally to track motion of the surgical site. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of performing a surgical procedure on a beating heart of a patient, the method including:
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positioning an end effector in close proximity to a surgical site on the heart at which site a surgical procedure is to be performed, the end effector being mounted on a robotically controlled arm;
bracing the beating heart with a brace member to at least reduce motion of the surgical site;
directing an image capture device at the surgical site to capture an image of the surgical site;
displaying the image of the surgical site on an image display operatively connected to the image capture device; and
compensating for motion of the surgical site to cause the image of the surgical site to be displayed on the image display as if the surgical site were generally stationary relative to the image capture device. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
computing tracking command signals in response to monitored motion of the surgical site; and
forwarding the tracking command signals to actuators operatively associated with the robotically controlled arm to cause the arm to move the image capture device generally to track motion of the surgical site.
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22. A method as claimed in claim 20, wherein the image capture device is arranged to capture at least two images of the surgical site from two different vantage points, compensating for motion of the surgical site to cause the image of the surgical site to be displayed on the image display as if the surgical site were generally stationary relative to the image capture device including processing information related to the two images so as to cause the image of the surgical site displayed on the image display to be displayed as if the surgical site were generally stationary relative to the image capture device.
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23. A method as claimed in claim 22, in which processing the information related to the two images includes transforming optical information related to the two images into digital information and processing the digital information so as to cause the surgical site to be displayed on the image display as if the surgical site were generally stationary relative to the image capture device.
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24. A method as claimed in claim 22, in which monitoring motion of the surgical site includes the processing of the information related to the two images.
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25. A method as claimed in claim 24, in which computing tracking command signals in response to monitored motion of the surgical site includes computing tracking command signals in the form of vectors derived from monitored information corresponding to the two images.
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26. A method as claimed in claim 24, in which processing the two images includes defining a plurality of discrete locations on the surgical site and monitoring the motion of the discrete locations by means of information derived from the two images.
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27. A method as claimed in claim 24, which includes securing markers on the surgical site at the discrete locations.
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28. A method as claimed in claim 27, in which the markers are distinctively colored, monitoring the motion of the discrete locations then including monitoring motion of the distinctively colored markers.
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29. A method as claimed in claim 20, in which the image capture device is in the form of a stereo endoscope, directing the image capture device at the surgical site then including passing a viewing end of the endoscope through a relatively small aperture in the chest region of the patient.
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30. A method as claimed in claim 20, which includes analyzing information corresponding to monitored motion history of the surgical site to predict motion of the surgical site.
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31. A method as claimed in claim 30, in which computing tracking command signals in response to monitored motion of the surgical site includes computing the tracking command signals from predicted motion of the surgical site.
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32. A method as claimed in claim 30, in which predicting motion of the surgical site includes comparing the information corresponding to monitored motion of the surgical site with an ECG signal.
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33. A robotically controlled surgical system for performing a surgical procedure on a beating heart of a patient body, the system comprising:
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a robotically controlled arm;
a brace member operatively mounted on the robotically controlled arm, the brace member being arranged to brace, or stabilize, a beating heart so as at least to reduce motion of a surgical site on the beating heart, at which site a surgical procedure is to be performed;
at least one other robotically controlled arm;
a surgical end effector operatively mounted on the other robotically controlled arm, the surgical end effector being arranged to perform at least part of the surgical procedure on the surgical site;
at least one master control input device; and
a control system in which the robotically controlled arms, the brace member, the end effector and the master control input device are operatively connected, so as to enable movement of the robotically controlled arms, the brace member, and the end effector to be remotely controlled in response to input through the master control input device. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. A robotically controlled surgical system for performing a surgical procedure on a beating heart of a patient body, the system comprising:
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a robotically controlled arm;
a brace member operatively mounted on the robotically controlled arm, the brace member comprising two elongate members each defining a stabilizing surface arranged to engage the heart so as at least to reduce movement of a surgical site on the beating heart;
at least one other robotically controlled arm;
a surgical end effector operatively mounted on the other robotically controlled arm, the surgical end effector being arranged to perform at least part of the surgical procedure on the surgical site;
at least one master control input device;
a control system in which the robotically controlled arms, the brace member, the and effector and the master control input device are operatively connected, so as to enable movement of the robotically controlled arms, the brace member, and the end effector to be remotely controlled in response to input through the master control input device; and
a drive system operatively connected to the control system to enable the brace member to be moved in response to the master control device input, the drive system also being operatively associated with the elongate members to selectively spread the elongate members apart. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60)
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61. A robotically controlled surgical system for performing a surgical procedure on a beating heart of a patient body, the system comprising:
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a robotically controlled arm;
a brace member operatively mounted on the robotically controlled arm, the brace member being arranged to brace, or stabilize, a beating heart so as at least to reduce motion of a surgical site on the beating heart, at which site a surgical procedure is to be performed;
at least one other robotically controlled arm;
a surgical end effector operatively mounted on the other robotically controlled arm, the surgical end effector being arranged to perform at least part of the surgical procedure on the surgical site;
at least one master control input device;
a control system in which the robotically controlled arms, the brace member, the end effector and the master control input device are operatively connected, so as to enable movement of the robotically controlled arms, the brace member, and the end effector to be remotely controlled in response to input through the master control input device; and
an image capture device for capturing an image of the surgical site and remote display for displaying the captured image at a position outside the patient body. - View Dependent Claims (62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69)
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70. A method of performing a surgical procedure on a beating heart of a patient, the method including:
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positioning an end effector in close proximity to a surgical site on the heart at which site a surgical procedure is to be performed, the end effector being mounted on a robotically controlled arm;
bracing the beating heart with a brace member to at least reduce motion of the surgical site;
inputting an end effector movement command signal;
forwarding the end effector movement command signal to actuators operatively associated with the robotically controlled arm to cause the end effector to move relative to the surgical site so as to perform at least part of the surgical procedure at the surgical site;
monitoring the reduced motion of the surgical site;
computing end effector tracking command signals in response to the reduced monitored motion of the surgical site;
forwarding the tracking command signals to the actuators to cause the arm to move the end effector generally to track motion of the surgical site; and
analyzing information corresponding to monitored motion history of the surgical site to predict motion of the surgical site. - View Dependent Claims (71, 72)
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73. A method of performing a surgical procedure on a beating heart of a patient, the method including:
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positioning an end effector in close proximity to a surgical site on the heart at which site a surgical procedure is to be performed, the end effector being mounted on a robotically controlled arm;
bracing the beating heart with a brace member to at least reduce motion of the surgical site;
inputting an end effector movement command signal;
forwarding the end effector movement command signal to actuators operatively associated with the robotically controlled arm to cause the end effector to move relative to the surgical site so as to perform at least part of the surgical procedure at the surgical site;
monitoring the reduced motion of the surgical site;
computing end effector tracking command signals in response to the reduced monitored motion of the surgical site;
forwarding the tracking command signals to the actuators to cause the arm to move the end effector generally to track motion of the surgical site;
directing an image capture device at the surgical site to capture an image of the surgical site;
displaying the image of the surgical site on an image display operatively connected to the image capture device;
compensating for motion of the surgical site to cause the image of the surgical site to be displayed on the image display as if the surgical site were generally stationary relative to the image capture device; and
analyzing information corresponding to monitored motion history of the surgical site to predict motion of the surgical site. - View Dependent Claims (74, 75)
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Specification