Granted Patent B2

US 12,521,277 · App. 18/656,491 · Granted Jan 13, 2026

Inventors: Jeffery B. Alvarez (Redwood City, CA); Greg Kintz (Santa Cruz, CA); David Mintz (Los Altos Hills, CA); Serena Wong (Mountain View, CA)

Assignee: Auris Health, Inc.

A61F9/008A61B34/30A61B34/37A61F9/00736A61F2009/00851A61F2009/0087A61F2009/00887A61F2009/00889

Abstract

Claims (42)

1 . A method comprising:

inserting a first tool into a chamber of an anatomical structure, the first tool comprising a first device and configured to be coupled to a first robotic arm;

inserting a second tool into the chamber of the anatomical structure, the second tool comprising a second device and configured to be coupled to a second robotic arm;

emitting energy from the first device at material within the chamber;

aspirating pieces of the material from the chamber via the second device; and

gradually varying a parameter of the first tool associated with the energy between a first value and a second value based on a distance that a tip of the first tool has traveled along a tool path.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the material is associated with the anatomical structure.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the material includes an undesired clump of material in the chamber.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the gradually varying is based on movement of the anatomical structure.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the parameter comprises a speed of the tip of the first tool.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the energy is a pulse energy, and the method further comprises:

controlling a repetition rate and pulse duration of the pulse energy.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

varying a pulse repetition rate of the energy between a first pulse repetition rate and a second pulse repetition rate that is higher than the first pulse repetition rate based on a distance between the tip of the first tool and the material.

8 . A robotic system, comprising:

a first robotic component configured to control movement of an first device;

a second robotic component configured to control movement of an second device;

a processor; and

a computer-readable memory in communication with the processor and having stored thereon computer-executable instructions to cause the processor to:

insert the first device into a chamber of an anatomical structure;

control movement of the second device within the chamber of the anatomical structure;

control the first device to emit energy to break up material into pieces within the chamber of the anatomical structure;

control the second device to aspirate the pieces of material from the chamber;

control the first robotic component to cause a tip of the first device to travel along a tool path; and

control the first device to gradually vary a parameter of the first device between a first value and a second value based on a distance that the tip of the first device has traveled along the tool path.

9 . The robotic system of claim 8 , wherein the gradual varying of the parameter is further based on a hardness of the material at the distance along the tool path.

10 . The robotic system of claim 8 , wherein the gradual varying of the parameter includes compensating for inconsistencies in a speed of the tip of the first device.

11 . The robotic system of claim 8 , wherein the gradual varying of the parameter is further based on movement of anatomy of the anatomical structure.

12 . The robotic system of claim 8 , wherein the first device includes an electromagnetic (EM) sensor.

13 . The robotic system of claim 8 , wherein the parameter comprises a pulse energy of the first device.

14 . The robotic system of claim 8 , wherein the parameter comprises an effective speed of the tip of the first device.

15 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed, cause at least one computing device to:

control movement of an first device within a chamber of an anatomical structure, the first device configured to be coupled to a first robotic component;

control movement of a second device within the chamber of the anatomical structure, the second device configured to be coupled to a second robotic component;

cause the first device to emit energy to break up material into pieces within the chamber of the anatomical structure;

cause the second device to aspirate the pieces of the material from the chamber; and

gradually vary a parameter of the first device between a first value and a second value based on a distance that a tip of the first device has traveled along a tool path.

16 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the parameter comprises a pulse repetition rate and wherein the gradually varying the pulse repetition rate includes achieving an effective tool tip speed that is substantially equivalent to a speed of the tip of the first device having a consistent pulse repetition rate.

17 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the parameter comprises a pulse repetition rate of the first device.

18 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the tool path comprises a spiral and the parameter comprises a spacing between windings of the spiral.

19 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the first device comprises a plurality of laser fibers arranged to form a shape configured to increase an area that is treated by the energy.

20 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the first device includes a laser.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (4)

References Cited (400)