Multi-user medical robotic system for collaboration or training in minimally invasive surgical procedures

• US 9,867,671 B2
• Filed: 05/29/2017
• Issued: 01/16/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/20/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. (Intuitive Surgical Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc. (Intuitive Surgical Holdings, LLC)
• Inventors: Kumar, Rajesh, Hoffman, Brian D., Prisco, Giuseppe Maria, Larkin, David Q., Nowlin, William C., Moll, Frederic H., Blumenkranz, Stephen J., Niemeyer, Gunter D., Salisbury, Jr., J. Kenneth, Wang, Yulun, Ghodoussi, Modjtaba, Uecker, Darrin R., Wright, James W., Mangaser, Amante A., Mukherjee, Ranjan
• Primary Examiner(s): Sample, Jonathan L
• Application Number:
  US15/607,676
• Publication Number:
  US 20170258537A1
• Time in Patent Office: 232 Days
• Field of Search: 700245-264
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/00193 adapted for stereoscopic vision
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00017 Electrical control of surgical instruments
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 34/30 Surgical robots
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 34/37 Master-slave robots A61B34/35 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 34/70 Manipulators specially adapted for use in surgery
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 90/361 Image-producing devices, e.g. surgical cameras
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 90/37 Surgical systems with images on a monitor during operation
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 23/28 for medicine
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/40 relating to mechanical, radiation or invasive therapies, e.g. surgery, laser therapy, dialysis or acupuncture
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 80/00 ICT specially adapted for facilitating communication between medical practitioners or patients, e.g. for collaborative diagnosis, therapy or health monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 901/16 Cartesian, three degrees of freedom

Abstract

A multi-user medical robotic system for collaboration or training in minimally invasive surgical procedures includes first and second master input devices, a first slave robotic mechanism, and at least one processor configured to generate a first slave command for the first slave robotic mechanism by switchably using one or both of a first command indicative of manipulation of the first master input device by a first user and a second command indicative of manipulation of the second master input device by a second user. To facilitate the collaboration or training, both first and second users communicate with each other through an audio system and see the minimally invasive surgery site on first and second displays respectively viewable by the first and second users.

Claims

1. A medical system comprising:

a first slave manipulator configured to move a first device according to a first slave command;

a first input device operated by a first user, the first input device configured to generate a first command by the first user operating the first input device; and

a control station operated by a second user, the control station coupled to the first slave manipulator and the first input device, the control station including;

a second input device operated by the second user, the second input device configured to generate a second command by the second user operating the second input device;

means for generating one or more switch commands; and

an association module adapted to;

receive the first command and the second command,

generate the first slave command by using one or both of the first command and the second command according to the one or more switch commands; and

provide the first slave command to the first slave manipulator.

2. The medical system according to claim 1,

wherein the association module comprises:

a plurality of inputs, a first input associated with the first input device to receive the first command, a second input associated with the second input device to receive the second command;

a plurality of outputs, a first output associated with the first slave manipulator;

a routing table selectively coupling the plurality of inputs to the plurality of outputs according to the one or more switch commands; and

a shared command filter;

wherein the association module is configured to;

conditioned upon the routing table selectively coupling only one of the first command and the second command to the first output, generate the first slave command by using the selectively coupled one of the first command and the second command; and

conditioned upon the routing table selectively coupling both of the first command and the second command to the first output, coupling the first command and the second command to the shared command filter to generate the first slave command according to the one or more switch commands.

3. The medical system according to claim 2,

wherein the shared command filter comprises:

an arbiter configured to select one of the first command and the second command to be the first slave command, according to a priority input included among the one or more switch commands.

4. The medical system according to claim 2,

wherein the shared command filter comprises:

a weighting function configured to weight each of the first command and the second command to generate the first slave command, according to weight values, included among the one or more switch commands, for the first input device and the second input device.

5. The medical system according to claim 1,

wherein the means for generating one or more switch commands comprises:

means for phasing-in a new switch command and phasing-out an old switch command when selective coupling of the plurality of inputs to the plurality of outputs by the routing table is to change as a result of the old switch command being replaced with the new switch command.

6. The medical system according to claim 1,

wherein the means for generating one or more switch commands comprises any one or a combination of:

one or more buttons on the second input device,

one or more foot pedals,

a voice recognition and processing system,

a graphical user interface, and

other user operable input mechanism.