Robotic visualization and collision avoidance
View Patent ↗Methods and devices are provided for robotic surgery, and in particular for controlling various motions of a tool based on visual indicators. In general, a surgical tool can include an elongate shaft and an end effector coupled to a distal end of the elongate shaft and including first and second jaws. The tool can have at least one visual indicator disposed thereon and configured to indicate a size, position, or speed of movement of the tool or components of the tool.
1. A surgical robot system, comprising:
a robotic arm having a proximal end configured to couple to a support and having a distal end with a driver including at least one motor;
a tool housing configured to releasably couple to the driver;
an elongate shaft extending distally from the housing;
an end effector on a distal end of the elongate shaft; and
at least one position sensor configured to detect a position and a velocity of the end effector within a three-dimensional space, and the system being configured to limit a velocity of the end effector when the position of the end effector is within a first threshold boundary of a target tissue site and being configured not to limit the velocity of the end effector when the position of the end effector is outside of the first threshold boundary.
2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising at least one actuator configured to actuate the end effector, wherein the actuator is configured to retard motion of the end effector in response to an output received from the position sensor indicating that the end effector is at a predetermined location within a three dimensional space.
3. The surgical system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one position sensor is configured to detect a proximity of a second tool within a three dimensional space and to output a signal indicating the proximity of the second tool relative to the end effector.
4. The surgical system of claim 3 , wherein the at least one position sensor comprises an electromagnetic sensor that is configured to detect a position of a magnetic material on the second tool.
5. The surgical system of claim 4 , wherein the electromagnetic sensor is configured to detect perturbations in a magnetic field caused by the additional electromechanical tool within the electromagnetic field.
6. The surgical system of claim 3 , wherein the position sensor is configured to detect a strength of a magnetic field emitted by an magnetic field emitter and the actuator is configured to retard the motion of the electromechanical tool in response to a detection by the position sensor that the electromechanical tool is at a position in the three dimensional space having a predetermined magnetic field strength.
7. The surgical system of claim 1 , wherein the position sensor is at least one camera configured to obtain images of the electromechanical sensor.
8. The surgical system of claim 1 , wherein the first threshold boundary is configured to be changed by a user.
9. The surgical system of claim 1 , further comprising a second robotic tool having a second end effector comprising a second position sensor configured to detect the position of the second end effector in a three dimensional space;
wherein the position sensor is configured to communicate with the second position sensor.
10. The surgical system of claim 1 , wherein the system is configured not to limit the velocity of the end effector when the position of the end effector is outside of the first threshold boundary, the system is configured to limit the velocity of the end effector to a first reduced velocity when the position of the end effector is within the first threshold boundary, and the system is configured to limit the velocity of the end effector to a second reduced velocity when the position of the end effector is within a second threshold boundary, the second reduced velocity being slower than the first reduced velocity and the second threshold boundary being closer to the target tissue site than the first threshold boundary.
11. A surgical robotic system, comprising:
an electromechanical arm configured for movement in multiple axes;
an electromechanical tool configured to couple to the electromechanical arm and having an elongate shaft with an end effector coupled to a distal end thereof;
a controller configured to control movement of the electromechanical arm and to control actuation of the end effector on the electromechanical tool;
wherein the electromechanical tool includes a pre-set motion control threshold, the controller is configured to prevent the electromechanical tool from exceeding the pre-set motion control threshold when the controller actuates at least one of the electromechanical arm and the electromechanical tool within a threshold boundary of a target tissue site, and the controller is configured not to prevent the electromechanical tool from exceeding the pre-set motion control threshold when the controller actuates at least one of the electromechanical arm and the electromechanical tool outside of the threshold boundary of the target tissue site.
12. The surgical system of claim 11 , wherein the pre-set motion control threshold comprises a threshold velocity of the end effector.
13. The surgical system of claim 11 , further comprising a second electromechanical tool having a second pre-set motion control threshold, wherein the controller is configured to actuate at least one of a second electromechanical arm and the second electromechanical tool, and is configured to prevent the second electromechanical tool from exceeding the second pre-set motion control threshold when the controller actuates at least one of the second electromechanical arm and the second electromechanical tool.
14. The surgical system of claim 12 , wherein at least one of the pre-set motion control threshold and the second pre-set motion control threshold is configured to be changed by a user.
15. The surgical system of claim 11 , further comprising a proximity sensor configured to detect and to output a signal indicating a proximity of the end effector to any surrounding objects.
16. The surgical system of claim 11 , further comprising an electromagnetic sensor that is configured to detect a position of a magnetic material on the end effector.
17. The surgical system of claim 11 , further comprising at least one camera configured to obtain images of the electromechanical tool.
18. A surgical method, comprising:
causing a controller on a surgical robotic system to transmit input instructions to an electromechanical tool to thereby move the tool, wherein the electromechanical tool has a pre-set motion control threshold, the controller is configured to prevent the electromechanical tool from exceeding the pre-set motion control threshold when the controller moves the tool within a threshold boundary of a target tissue site, and the controller is configured not to prevent the electromechanical tool from exceeding the pre-set motion control threshold when the controller actuates at least one of the electromechanical arm and the electromechanical tool outside of the threshold boundary of the target tissue site.
19. The surgical method of claim 18 , further comprising causing the controller to transmit input instructions to a second electromechanical tool to thereby move the second electromechanical tool, wherein the second electromechanical tool has a second pre-set motion control threshold, and the controller is configured to prevent the second electromechanical tool from exceeding the second pre-set motion control threshold when the controller moves the second electromechanical tool.
20. The surgical method of claim 18 , wherein the pre-set motion control threshold comprises a threshold velocity of the end effector.