Robotic hand-held surgical instrument systems with a visual indicator and methods of controlling the same

1 . A hand-held robotic system for use with a surgical tool, the system comprising:

an instrument comprising;

a hand-held portion to be held by a user and a tool support coupled to the hand-held portion, the tool support comprising a tool drive motor to drive motion of the surgical tool; and

an actuator assembly operatively interconnecting the tool support and the hand-held portion to move the tool support to move the surgical tool in a plurality of degrees of freedom relative to the hand-held portion, the actuator assembly including a plurality of actuators;

a visual indicator to guide the user where to place the hand-held portion;

a control system coupled to the plurality of actuators and the visual indicator, the control system being configured to:

determine a position or orientation of the hand-held portion in a first degree of freedom in a known coordinate system;

determine a theoretical range of motion of the hand-held portion relative to the tool support in a second degree of freedom based on the position or orientation of the hand-held portion in the first degree of freedom;

determine a position or orientation of the hand-held portion in the second degree of freedom in the known coordinate system; and

control the visual indicator based on the position or orientation of the hand-held portion and the theoretical range of motion in the second degree of freedom to guide the user as to where to move the hand-held portion to provide the instrument with maximum adjustability of the plurality of actuators.

2 . The hand-held robotic system of claim 1 , wherein the control system is further configured to determine a theoretical range of motion of the hand-held portion relative to the tool support in a third degree of freedom based on the position or orientation of the hand-held portion in a first degree of freedom, determine a position or orientation of the hand-held portion in the third degree of freedom in the known coordinate system, and control the visual indicator based on the position or orientation of the hand-held portion and the theoretical range of motion in the second degree of freedom and based on the position or orientation of the hand-held portion and the theoretical range of motion in the third degree of freedom.

3 . The hand-held robotic system of claim 2 , wherein the control system is further configured to determine the theoretical range of motion of the tool support in the second degree of freedom based on the position or orientation of the hand-held portion in the first degree of freedom and based on a Cartesian model representing a three-dimensional workspace of the tool support relative to the hand-held portion.

4 . The hand-held robotic system of claim 3 , wherein the model is defined a plurality of roll values, pitch values, and elevation values.

5 . The hand-held robotic system of claim 3 , wherein the model representing the three-dimensional workspace of the tool support is derived from empirical data.

6 . The hand-held robotic system of claim 3 , wherein the control system is further configured to determine an actual deviation vector in a polar coordinate system that represents a two-dimensional area corresponding to a height value of the pose of the hand-held portion as the theoretical range of motion of the hand-held portion based on the orientation of the hand-held portion in the second degree of freedom and the orientation of the hand-held portion in the third degree of freedom, the actual deviation vector having a magnitude and a direction, and wherein the control system is configured to control the visual indicator based on the magnitude of the actual deviation vector, the direction of the actual deviation vector, or combinations thereof.

7 . The hand-held robotic system of claim 6 , wherein the Cartesian model includes a plurality of two-dimensional regions, each region surrounding its own origin, the actual deviation vector extending from the origin of at least one of the plurality of two-dimensional regions to a point defined in a polar coordinate system by the orientation of the hand-held portion in the second degree of freedom and the orientation of the hand-held portion in a third degree of freedom.

8 . The hand-held robotic system of claim 7 , wherein each of the plurality of two-dimensional regions is defined by plurality of roll values and a plurality of pitch values.

9 . The hand-held robotic system of claim 8 , wherein the control system is further configured to determine a range of motion vector in the polar coordinate system based on the position of the hand-held portion in the first degree of freedom, the range of motion vector having a magnitude, the range of motion vector extending from the origin of at least one of the plurality of two-dimensional regions to a boundary points of the two-dimensional region, wherein the control system is configured to control the visual indicator based on the magnitude of the actual deviation vector, the magnitude of the range of motion vector, the direction of the actual deviation vector combinations thereof.

10 . The hand-held robotic system of claim 9 , wherein the direction of the actual deviation vector and the direction of the range of motion vector are equal to one another, and the origin of the actual deviation vector is the same as the origin of the range of motion vector.

11 . The hand-held robotic system of claim 9 , wherein the first degree of freedom is elevation, and the control system is configured to determine a boundary point of the two-dimensional region based on the position of the hand-held portion in the first degree of freedom.

12 . The hand-held robotic system of claim 11 , wherein the control system is configured to determine the magnitude of the range of motion vector based on a pair of coordinates defining the boundary point of the two-dimensional region.

13 . The hand-held robotic system of claim 12 , wherein the two-dimensional region is asymmetrical about the origin.

14 . The hand-held robotic system of claim 8 , wherein the control system is configured to control the visual indicator based on the magnitude of the actual deviation vector and the magnitude of the range of motion vector.

15 . The hand-held robotic system of claim 1 , wherein the control system is configured to determine a pose of the hand-held portion in the known coordinate system, and the control system is configured to compute the position of the hand-held portion in the first degree of freedom and the position or orientation of the hand-held portion in the second degree of freedom based on the pose of the hand-held portion.

16 . The hand-held robotic system of claim 15 , wherein the pose of the hand-held portion is a commanded pose, a simulated commanded pose, a measured pose, a previous commanded pose, a previous measured pose, or combinations thereof.

17 . The hand-held robotic system of claim 16 , wherein the pose of the hand-held portion is a commanded pose, wherein the surgical tool is a saw blade, the tool support is defined as a blade support, and the saw blade is coupled to the blade support, wherein the commanded pose of the hand-held portion is a relationship between the saw blade and the hand-held portion.

18 . The hand-held robotic system of claim 1 , wherein the visual indicator is a display screen separate from the instrument.

19 . The hand-held robotic system of claim 18 , wherein the display screen is coupled to a navigation cart.

20 . A hand-held robotic system for use with a surgical tool, the system comprising:

an instrument comprising;

a hand-held portion to be held by a user and a tool support coupled to the hand-held portion, the tool support comprising a tool drive motor to drive motion of the surgical tool; and

an actuator assembly operatively interconnecting the tool support and the hand-held portion to move the tool support to move the tool in a plurality of degrees of freedom relative to the hand-held portion, the actuator assembly including a plurality of actuators;

a visual indicator to guide the user where to place the hand-held portion; and

a control system coupled to the plurality of actuators and the visual indicator, the control system being configured to:

determine a first pose of the hand-held portion in a known coordinate system;

determine a first theoretical range of motion in a first degree of freedom based on a component of the first pose;

determine a second pose of the hand-held portion in the known coordinate system;

determine a second theoretical range of motion in the first degree of freedom based on a component of the second pose, wherein the first theoretical range of motion and the second theoretical range of motion are different and the first pose and the second pose are different;

determine a first position or orientation of the hand-held portion based on the first pose in the first degree of freedom and control the visual indicator based on the first position or orientation and the first range of motion; and

determine a second position or orientation of the hand-held portion based on the second pose in the first degree of freedom and control the visual indicator based on the second position or orientation and the second range of motion to guide the user as to how to move the hand-held portion to provide the instrument with maximum adjustability of the plurality of actuators.

21 . A method of controlling a visual indicia of a hand-held robotic system for use with a surgical tool, the robotic system including a localizer, and a hand-held instrument, the hand-held instrument having a hand-held portion to be held by a user, a tool support movably coupled to the hand-held portion to support the surgical tool, and an actuator assembly operatively interconnecting the tool support and the hand-held portion, the actuator assembly including a plurality of actuators, and the tool support including a saw drive motor, the method comprising the steps of:

the instrument controller determining a position or orientation of the hand-held portion in a first degree of freedom in a known coordinate system;

the instrument controller determining a theoretical range of motion of the hand-held portion relative to the tool support in a second degree of freedom based on the position or orientation of the hand-held portion in the first degree of freedom;

determining a position or orientation of the hand-held portion in the second degree of freedom in the known coordinate system; and

the instrument controller controlling the visual indicator based on the position or orientation of the hand-held portion and the theoretical range of motion in the second degree of freedom to guide the user as to how to move the hand-held portion to provide the instrument with maximum adjustability of the plurality of actuators.