Surgical Instrument Including Housing, A Cutting Accessory That Extends From The Housing And Actuators That Establish The Position Of The Cutting Accessory Relative To The Housing

1 . An instrument comprising:

a hand-held portion for being manually supported and moved by a user;

a working portion movably coupled to the hand-held portion;

a plurality of actuators operatively coupled to the working portion for moving the working portion in a plurality of degrees of freedom relative to the hand-held portion;

a tracking device attached to the hand-held portion for tracking the instrument; and

at least one adjustment mechanism disposed between the actuators and the working portion for transmitting movement from the actuators to the working portion;

wherein the plurality of actuators are configured to move the working portion relative to the hand-held portion in at least three degrees of freedom including pivoting the working portion in pitch and yaw about a pivot, and translating the working portion along a translation axis.

2 . The instrument as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising a guide post coupled to the working portion, the guide post engaging the at least one adjustment mechanism.

3 . The instrument as set forth in claim 2 , wherein the at least one adjustment mechanism includes overlapping slots that receive the guide post.

4 . The instrument as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the at least one adjustment mechanism is pivoted by the actuators.

5 . The instrument as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the at least one adjustment mechanism is moved in translation by the actuators.

6 . The instrument as set forth in claim 2 , wherein the at least one adjustment mechanism includes a pitch adjustment mechanism that sets a pitch of the working portion and a yaw adjustment mechanism that sets the yaw of the working portion.

7 . The instrument as set forth in claim 6 , wherein the pitch adjustment mechanism and the yaw adjustment mechanism each comprise a link including a base from which a pair of parallel arms extends distally outwardly.

8 . The instrument as set forth in claim 7 , wherein, for each of the pitch adjustment mechanism and the yaw adjustment mechanism, the base of the link includes a slot, and wherein the slots overlap.

9 . The instrument as set forth in claim 8 , wherein the plurality of actuators further comprises at least a pitch motor coupled to the pitch adjustment mechanism and a yaw motor coupled to the yaw adjustment mechanism, and wherein the pitch motor adjusts the link of the pitch adjustment mechanism to move the guide post to set a pitch of the working portion, and wherein the yaw motor adjusts the link of the yaw adjustment mechanism to move the guide post to set a yaw of the working portion.

10 . The instrument as set forth in claim 8 , further comprising a drive mechanism comprising a motor configured to actuate the working portion and wherein a guide post extends from a proximal end of the motor; and

wherein the guide post is configured to slide in the slot in the base for each of the pitch adjustment mechanism and the yaw adjustment mechanism.

11 . The instrument as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the at least one adjustment mechanism is housed within a frame fixed to the hand-held portion, the at least one adjustment mechanism configured to move relative to the frame;

wherein the at least one adjustment mechanism comprises a pair of lead screws and a carriage that engages the lead screws, wherein the pair of lead screws and the carriage are arranged in the frame; and

wherein carriages each define a slot that are arranged in a perpendicular directions to one another and wherein the slots intersect at a pocket.

12 . An instrument comprising:

a hand-held portion for being manually supported and moved by a user;

a working portion movably coupled to the hand-held portion;

a plurality of actuators operatively coupled to the working portion for moving the working portion in a plurality of degrees of freedom relative to the hand-held portion;

a tracking device attached to the hand-held portion for tracking the instrument;

at least one adjustment mechanism disposed between the actuators and the working portion for transmitting movement from the actuators to the working portion; and

a guide post coupled to the working portion, the guide post engaging the at least one adjustment mechanism.

13 . The instrument as set forth claim 12 , wherein the plurality of actuators are configured to move the working portion relative to the hand-held portion in at least three degrees of freedom including pivoting the working portion in pitch and yaw about a pivot, and translating the working portion along a translation axis.

14 . The instrument as set forth in claim 12 , wherein the at least one adjustment mechanism includes overlapping slots that receive the guide post.

15 . The instrument as set forth claim 14 , wherein the at least one adjustment mechanism comprises a link, a lead screw that is driven by a motor, and a yoke assembly mounted to the link, wherein the link comprises a base that is formed to have the slots that receive the guide post.

16 . The instrument as set forth in claim 12 , wherein the at least one adjustment mechanism includes a pitch adjustment mechanism that sets a pitch of the working portion and a yaw adjustment mechanism that sets the yaw of the working portion.

17 . The instrument as set forth in claim 16 , wherein the pitch adjustment mechanism and the yaw adjustment mechanism each comprise a link including a base from which a pair of parallel arms extends distally outwardly; and wherein, for each of the pitch adjustment mechanism and the yaw adjustment mechanism, the base of the link includes a slot, and wherein the slots overlap.

18 . The instrument as set forth in claim 17 , wherein the plurality of actuators further comprises at least a pitch motor coupled to the pitch adjustment mechanism and a yaw motor coupled to the yaw adjustment mechanism, and wherein the pitch motor adjusts the link of the pitch adjustment mechanism to move the guide post to set a pitch of the working portion, and wherein the yaw motor adjusts the link of the yaw adjustment mechanism to move the guide post to set a yaw of the working portion; and

further comprising a drive mechanism comprising a motor configured to actuate the working portion and wherein a guide post extends from a proximal end of the motor; and

wherein the guide post is configured to slide in the slot in the base for each of the pitch adjustment mechanism and the yaw adjustment mechanism.

19 . The instrument as set forth in claim 12 , wherein the at least one adjustment mechanism is housed within a frame fixed to the hand-held portion, the at least one adjustment mechanism configured to move relative to the frame;

wherein the at least one adjustment mechanism comprises a pair of lead screws and a carriage that engages the lead screws, wherein the pair of lead screws and the carriage are arranged in the frame; and

wherein carriages each define a slot that are arranged in a perpendicular directions to one another and wherein the slots intersect at a pocket.

20 . The instrument as set forth in claim 12 , wherein the at least one adjustment mechanism is pivoted by the actuators; or

wherein the at least one adjustment mechanism is moved in translation by the actuators.