Surgical robotic platform for operating within the constrained space of an imaging scanner
A surgical robotic platform operates within a constrained space of an imaging scanner in which a patient resides. The platform includes a gross positioning stage configured to be located outside of the constrained space An end-effector having a rotatable shaft is extendable from the gross positioning stage and into the constrained space of the imaging scanner. The shaft has a proximal end operatively coupled to the positioning stage outside of the constrained space and a distal end configured to be located in the constrained space. The distal end has a medical instrument gripper for holding a medical instrument used in a percutaneous procedure. The end-effector further includes a joint arrangement operatively coupling the shaft to the medical gripper for providing motion to the medical instrument gripper for enabling position and/or orientation control of the medical instrument. A drive module controls the joint arrangement.
1 . A method of performing a percutaneous procedure for inserting a medical instrument into a patient body while within a constrained space defined by an imaging scanner using a surgical robotic platform, comprising:
receiving preoperative imaging scan data of a portion of the patient body in which the medical instrument is to be inserted, the preoperative imaging scan data being obtained using the imaging scanner while the patient body is in position for performance of the procedure;
determining a collision-free joint trajectory to be executed by a robotic platform that causes the medical instrument to reach a target medical instrument insertion pose using the preoperative imaging scan data and calibration calculation data, the collision-free joint trajectory being determined at least in part on
(i) the target medical instrument insertion pose,
(ii) a specified minimum collision distance between specified portions of the surgical robotic platform located within the constrained space and walls of the imaging scanner that define the constrained space and
(iii) a specified minimum collision distance between specified portions of the surgical robotic platform located within the constrained space and the patient body,
and executing the procedure using the robotic platform to thereby cause the surgical robotic platform to align the needle to the specified medical instrument insertion pose.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the medical instrument includes a needle, an implantable screw, an implantable medical device, an ablation probe or a catheter.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the patient body is a human patient.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the imaging scanner is a computerized tomography (CT) scanner and the constrained space is an imaging bore of the CT scanner.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the imaging scanner is a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanner and the constrained space is an imaging bore of the MRI scanner.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the imaging scanner is a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanner and the constrained space is an imaging bore of the PET scanner.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the imaging scanner is a fluoroscopy scanner having a fluoroscope and the constrained space is defined by the motion of the fluoroscope.
8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving calibration scan data obtained using the imaging scanner to perform a transform between a robot coordinate system and an imaging scanner coordinate system using the calibration scan data to obtain the calibration calculation data.
9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising using a sampling based motion planning algorithm when determining a collision-free robot trajectory.
10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising using a gradient based optimization algorithm when determining a collision-free robot trajectory.
11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the user interacts with a graphical user interface for inputting the target medical instrument insertion pose and visualizing robot motion while performing a procedure.
12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the physician interacts with a haptic device for inputting the target medical instrument insertion pose.
13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the collision-free joint configuration space is stored in a look-up table representation.
14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the collision-free joint trajectory is determined in part by optimization within a Jacobian's null-space
15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the collision-free joint trajectory being determined at least in part on an ability to pivot the medical instrument around the target medical instrument insertion pose.
16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the collision-free joint trajectory is determined at least in part on an ability of the surgical robotic platform to move a target medical instrument insertion pose with sufficient speed to adjust for patient physiological motion.
17 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the collision-free joint trajectory is determined at least in part on a manipulability measure of the surgical robotic platform.
18 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a joint-to-actuator relationship is determined in a data-driven fashion.
19 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the target medical instrument insertion pose is specified by a user.
20 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the target medical instrument insertion pose is specified by another system.
21 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the needle is inserted into the body.
22 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a surgical robotic platform, cause the one or more processors to perform a method of performing a percutaneous procedure for inserting a medical instrument into a patient body while within a constrained space defined by an imaging scanner using a surgical robotic platform, the method comprising:
receiving preoperative imaging scan data of a portion of the patient body in which the medical instrument is to be inserted, the preoperative imaging scan data being obtained using the imaging scanner while the patient body is in position for performance of the procedure;
determining a collision-free joint trajectory to be executed by a robotic platform that causes the medical instrument to reach a target medical instrument insertion pose using the preoperative imaging scan data and calibration calculation data, the collision-free joint trajectory being determined at least in part on
(i) the target medical instrument insertion pose,
(ii) a specified minimum collision distance between specified portions of the surgical robotic platform located within the constrained space and walls of the imaging scanner that define the constrained space and
(iii) a specified minimum collision distance between specified portions of the surgical robotic platform located within the constrained space and the patient body,
and causing the procedure to be executed using the robotic platform to thereby cause the surgical robotic platform to align the needle to the specified medical instrument insertion pose.