Roll-pitch-roll surgical tool
First Claim
1. A minimally invasive surgical instrument comprising:
- an elongate shaft having a working end and a proximal end;
at least one linking arm having a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end being pivotally mounted on the working end of the shaft to rotate around a first pitch axis which is nonparallel to the shaft axis;
a wrist member having a distal portion and a proximal portion pivotally connected to the distal end of the linking arm to rotate around a second pitch axis which is nonparallel to the shaft axis;
a first pitch pulley coaxial with the first pitch axis, and a second pitch pulley coaxial with the second pitch axis;
a first pitch elongate element engaging the first and second pitch pulleys in a first circumferential orientation, the first pitch elongate element running through the elongate shaft;
an end effector pivotally mounted on the distal portion of the wrist member to rotate around a wrist axis of the wrist member, the wrist axis extending between the proximal portion and the distal portion of the wrist member.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A robotic surgical tool includes an elongate shaft having a working end and a shaft axis, and a pair of linking arms each having a proximal end and a distal end. The proximal end is pivotally mounted on the working end of the shaft to rotate around a first pitch axis to produce rotation in first pitch. A wrist member has a proximal portion pivotally connected to the distal end of the linking arm to rotate around a second pitch axis to produce rotation in second pitch. An end effector is pivotally mounted on a distal portion of the wrist member to rotate around a wrist axis of the wrist member to produce rotation in distal roll. The wrist axis extends between the proximal portion and the distal portion of the wrist member. The elongate shaft is rotatable around the shaft axis to produce rotation in proximal roll. At about 90° pitch, the wrist axis is generally perpendicular to the shaft axis. The proximal roll around the shaft axis and the distal roll around the wrist axis do not overlap. The use of the linking arms allows the end effector to be bent back beyond 90° pitch. The ability to operate the end effector at about 90° pitch and to bend back the end effector renders the wrist mechanism more versatile and adaptable to accessing hard to reach locations, particularly with small entry points such as those involving spinal, neural, or rectal surgical sites.
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Citations
11 Claims
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1. A minimally invasive surgical instrument comprising:
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an elongate shaft having a working end and a proximal end; at least one linking arm having a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end being pivotally mounted on the working end of the shaft to rotate around a first pitch axis which is nonparallel to the shaft axis; a wrist member having a distal portion and a proximal portion pivotally connected to the distal end of the linking arm to rotate around a second pitch axis which is nonparallel to the shaft axis; a first pitch pulley coaxial with the first pitch axis, and a second pitch pulley coaxial with the second pitch axis; a first pitch elongate element engaging the first and second pitch pulleys in a first circumferential orientation, the first pitch elongate element running through the elongate shaft; an end effector pivotally mounted on the distal portion of the wrist member to rotate around a wrist axis of the wrist member, the wrist axis extending between the proximal portion and the distal portion of the wrist member. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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Specification