Methods and devices for remotely controlling movement of surgical tools
First Claim
1. A surgical method, comprising:
- advancing first and second elongate shafts through a tissue surface to position distal ends of the first and second elongate shafts within a body cavity;
moving a first master sensor of an input tool disposed external to the body cavity in at least two degrees of freedom to cause the distal end of the first elongate shaft to mimic the movement of the first master sensor only by slidably translating the first elongate shaft along at least two of x, y, and z axes without rotational movement about the respective axes; and
moving a second master sensor of the input tool to cause the distal end of the second elongate shaft to mimic the movement of the second master sensor, the first master sensor being in electronic communication with the first elongate shaft and the second master sensor simultaneously being in electronic communication with the second elongate shaft without a physical linkage extending between the first and second master sensors and the first and second elongate shafts.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and devices are provided for controlling movement of a distal end of a surgical instrument. In general, the methods and devices can allow for controlling movement of surgical tools, and in particular for causing mimicked motion between an external control unit and a surgical tool positioned within a patient'"'"'s body. In one embodiment, a surgical system is provided having a master assembly including an input tool and a slave assembly including a surgical instrument. The master assembly and the slave assembly can be configured to be electronically coupled together such that movement of the master assembly can be electronically communicated to the slave assembly to cause mimicked movement of the slave assembly.
22 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A surgical method, comprising:
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advancing first and second elongate shafts through a tissue surface to position distal ends of the first and second elongate shafts within a body cavity; moving a first master sensor of an input tool disposed external to the body cavity in at least two degrees of freedom to cause the distal end of the first elongate shaft to mimic the movement of the first master sensor only by slidably translating the first elongate shaft along at least two of x, y, and z axes without rotational movement about the respective axes; and moving a second master sensor of the input tool to cause the distal end of the second elongate shaft to mimic the movement of the second master sensor, the first master sensor being in electronic communication with the first elongate shaft and the second master sensor simultaneously being in electronic communication with the second elongate shaft without a physical linkage extending between the first and second master sensors and the first and second elongate shafts. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A surgical method, comprising:
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positioning a slave assembly through a surgical access point in a tissue surface and into a body cavity such that a forward end of the slave assembly is within the body cavity; and moving first and second sensors positioned on a proximal portion of an input tool of a master assembly toward one another so as to cause third and fourth sensors positioned on a distal portion of the input tool to move away from one another, the input tool being disposed external to the body cavity and electronically coupled to the forward end of the slave assembly to cause the forward end of the slave assembly to mimic the movement of the third and fourth sensors within the body cavity in three translational degrees of freedom and three rotational degrees of freedom, the movement in the three translational degrees of freedom being caused by translation of the forward end of the slave assembly along first, second, and third perpendicular axes such that the forward end of the slave assembly can only move in straight lines to achieve the movement in the three translational degrees of freedom. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A surgical system, comprising:
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a slave assembly including an elongate shaft having a distal end configured to be positioned within a body cavity and perform a surgical procedure therein, and a mechanical movement assembly comprising first, second, and third rails respectively configured to provide linear movement of the elongate shaft along x, y, and z axes, the first, second, and third rails limiting movement of the elongate shaft to linear movement along the x, y, and z axes without rotational movement about the respective axes, and at least one of the first, second, and third rails being coupled directly to the elongate shaft; and a master assembly including one or more master sensors configured to be in electronic communication with the mechanical movement assembly such that movement of the one or more master sensors outside of the body cavity is configured to cause the mechanical movement assembly to move such that the movement of the one or more master sensors is mimicked by the elongate shaft so as to move the distal end of the elongate shaft within the body cavity. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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Specification