Physically realistic computer simulation of medical procedures
First Claim
1. A method for enabling a physically realistic computer simulation of medical procedures, said method comprising:
- providing a hardware interface interfacing at least a portion of a medical tool with a computer running a graphical simulation of a medical procedure, said graphical simulation displaying simulated patient anatomy and at least a portion of a simulated medical instrument, wherein said hardware interface includes an object representing at least a portion of a physical medical tool for manipulation by a user, said object corresponding to said displayed simulated medical instrument, and wherein said object includes a gripper handle portion that can be opened and closed by said user;
enabling the exchange of data between said hardware interface and said computer running said graphical simulation of said medical procedure, said data enabling said computer to update said graphical simulation in response to said physical manipulation of said object by said user;
enabling a detection of translation of said object with respect to a surface, said detection performed by at least one sensor included in said hardware interface; and
enabling a detection of an open-close motion of said gripper handle portion when squeezed by said user, said detection performed by a gripper sensor.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for interfacing the movement of a shaft with a computer includes a support, a gimbal mechanism having two degrees of freedom, and three electromechanical transducers. When a shaft is engaged with the gimbal mechanism, it can move with three degrees of freedom in a spherical coordinate space, where each degree of freedom is sensed by one of the three transducers. A fourth transducer can be used to sense rotation of the shaft around an axis. The method includes the steps of defining an origin in 3-dimensional space, physically constraining a shaft in the 3-dimensional space such that a portion of the shaft always intersects the origin and such that a portion of the shaft extending beyond the origin defines a radius in a spherical coordinate system, transducing a first electrical signal related to a first angular coordinate of the radius with a first transducer, transducing a second electrical signal related to a second angular coordinate with a second transducer, transducing a third electrical signal related to the length of the radius with a third transducer, and coupling the transducers to a computer.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A method for enabling a physically realistic computer simulation of medical procedures, said method comprising:
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providing a hardware interface interfacing at least a portion of a medical tool with a computer running a graphical simulation of a medical procedure, said graphical simulation displaying simulated patient anatomy and at least a portion of a simulated medical instrument, wherein said hardware interface includes an object representing at least a portion of a physical medical tool for manipulation by a user, said object corresponding to said displayed simulated medical instrument, and wherein said object includes a gripper handle portion that can be opened and closed by said user;
enabling the exchange of data between said hardware interface and said computer running said graphical simulation of said medical procedure, said data enabling said computer to update said graphical simulation in response to said physical manipulation of said object by said user;
enabling a detection of translation of said object with respect to a surface, said detection performed by at least one sensor included in said hardware interface; and
enabling a detection of an open-close motion of said gripper handle portion when squeezed by said user, said detection performed by a gripper sensor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for enabling a physically realistic computer simulation of medical procedures, said method comprising:
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providing a hardware interface interfacing at least a portion of a medical tool with a computer running a graphical simulation of a medical procedure, said graphical simulation displaying simulated patient anatomy and at least a portion of a simulated medical instrument, wherein said hardware interface includes an object representing at least a portion of a physical medical tool for manipulation by a user, said object corresponding to said displayed simulated medical instrument, and wherein said object includes a gripper handle portion that can be opened and closed by said user;
enabling the exchange of data between said hardware interface and said computer running said graphical simulation of said medical procedure, said data enabling said computer to update said graphical simulation in response to said physical manipulation of said object by said user. enabling a detection of translation of said object with respect to a surface, said detection performed by at least one sensor included in said hardware interface and connected to a friction wheel, said friction wheel engaging said object. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. An apparatus for enabling a physically realistic computer simulation of medical procedures, wherein a graphical simulation of a medical procedure is run by a computer, said graphical simulation displaying simulated patient anatomy and at least one portion of a simulated medical instrument, said apparatus comprising;
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an object representing at least a portion of a physical medical tool for manipulation by a user, said object corresponding to said displayed simulated medical instrument, and wherein said object includes a gripper handle portion that can opened and closed by said user at least one sensor operative to detect translation of said object with respect to a surface; and
a gripper sensor operative to detect an open-close motion of said gripper handle portion when squeezed by said user;
wherein an exchange of data occurs between said hardware interface and said computer running said graphical simulation of said medical procedure, said data enabling said computer to update said graphical simulation in response to said physical manipulation of said object by said user. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
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24. A method of simulating a medical procedure, said method comprising:
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providing a simulated patient anatomy and at least a portion of a simulated medical instrument;
providing a hardware interface that includes at least a portion of a physical medical instrument comprising a gripper handle portion for manipulation by a user;
enabling a detection of translation of said physical medical instrument with respect to a surface, said detection performed by at least one sensor included in said hardware interface;
detecting an open-close motion of said gripper handle portion when squeezed by said user, said detection being performed by a gripper sensor; and
updating at least one of said simulated patient anatomy and said simulated medical instrument in response to said manipulation of said physical medical instrument by said user. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification