Structural adjustment systems and methods for a teleoperational medical system

1. A teleoperational medical system for performing a medical procedure in a surgical field, the system comprising:

a teleoperational assembly having a surgical arm configured to assist in a surgical procedure, the surgical arm having a motion limit defining a boundary beyond which the surgical arm cannot pass;

sensing elements that sense an arrangement of the surgical arm; and

a control system configured to:

pre-store a plurality of surgical threshold limits, each of the plurality of surgical threshold limits being associated with a type of surgery, each of the plurality of surgical threshold limits being a boundary defining a limit of a range to be potentially travelled by the surgical arm to suitably perform a surgical procedure for the type of surgery,

select a surgical threshold limit of the plurality of surgical threshold limits for comparison with the motion limit based on the type of surgery to be performed, and

compare the motion limit to the selected surgical threshold limit and notify an operator via an output device when the selected surgical threshold limit is outside a range of motion bounded by the motion limit.

2. The teleoperational medical system of claim 1 , wherein the selected surgical threshold limit is pre-stored in the control system and accessed for comparison to the motion limit based upon at least one of a location of surgery in a patient's body, a patient body feature, and a patient approach.

3. The teleoperational medical system of claim 1 , wherein the output device comprises at least one of a visual display and a speaker.

4. The teleoperational medical system of claim 1 , wherein the teleoperational assembly comprises an adjustable joint to modify an arm pitch of the surgical arm and change the motion limit relative to the selected surgical threshold limit.

5. The teleoperational medical system of claim 4 , wherein the adjustable joint is disposed at a proximal portion of the surgical arm.

6. The teleoperational medical system of claim 4 , further comprising an input device configured to activate a motor to adjust the adjustable joint to modify a configuration of the surgical arm and change the motion limit.

7. The teleoperational medical system of claim 4 , wherein the adjustable joint is a rotary joint that rotates about an axis intersecting a remote center of the surgical arm.

8. The teleoperational medical system of claim 1 , wherein the control system is configured to notify the operator via a visual notification on the output device when the selected surgical threshold limit is outside a range of motion bounded by the motion limit, the control system being configured to automatically remove the visual notification when the motion limit will no longer prevent the surgical arm from moving toward the selected surgical threshold limit.

9. The teleoperational medical system of claim 1 , wherein the motion limit is an electronic motion limit.

10. The teleoperational medical system of claim 1 , wherein the motion limit is defined by a physical structure of the surgical arm or a physical capability of the surgical arm that prevents movement beyond the motion limit.

11. The teleoperational medical system of claim 1 , wherein the surgical threshold limit is an edge of the boundary to be potentially traveled by the surgical arm to suitably perform the surgical procedure, and wherein the surgical arm is a motorized surgical arm.

12. A teleoperational medical system for performing a medical procedure in a surgical field, the system comprising:

a teleoperational assembly having a surgical arm configured to assist in a surgical procedure, the surgical arm having a motion limit defining a boundary beyond which the surgical arm cannot pass without reconfiguring the surgical arm;

sensing elements that sense an arrangement of the surgical arm; and

a control system configured to:

pre-store a plurality of surgical threshold limits, each of the plurality of surgical threshold limits being associated with a type of surgery, each of the plurality of surgical threshold limits being a boundary defining a limit of a range to be potentially travelled by the surgical arm to suitably perform a surgical procedure for the associated type of surgery,

select a surgical threshold limit of the plurality of surgical threshold limits for comparison with the motion limit based on the type of surgery to be performed, and

compare the motion limit to the selected surgical threshold limit and notify an operator via an output device when the motion limit is within a preset tolerance of the selected surgical threshold limit.

13. The teleoperational medical system of claim 12 , wherein the preset tolerance includes a tolerance dimension of less than 10 degrees on a first side of the selected surgical threshold limit and a tolerance dimension greater than zero on a second side of the selected surgical threshold limit, such that the control system notifies the operator when the motion limit is within 10 degrees of the first side the selected surgical threshold limit or when the motion limit is greater than zero degrees on the second side of the selected surgical threshold limit.

14. The teleoperational medical system of claim 12 , wherein the preset tolerance includes a tolerance dimension of less than 10 degrees such that the control system notifies the operator when the motion limit is within 10 degrees of the selected surgical threshold limit.

15. The teleoperational medical system of claim 12 , wherein the teleoperational assembly comprises an adjustable joint to modify a configuration of the surgical arm and change the motion limit relative to the selected surgical threshold limit.

16. The teleoperational medical system of claim 15 , wherein the adjustable joint is disposed at a proximal portion of the surgical arm.

17. The teleoperational medical system of claim 15 , further comprising an input device configured to activate a motor to adjust the adjustable joint to modify the configuration of the surgical arm and change the motion limit.

18. A method of operating a teleoperational medical system for performing a medical procedure in a surgical field, comprising:

accessing a stored surgical threshold limit from a plurality of pre-stored threshold limits based on at least one of: a type of surgery, a location of a surgery in a patient's body, a patient body feature, and a patient approach;

comparing the accessed stored surgical threshold limit to a motion limit with a control system, the stored surgical threshold limit being a boundary to be potentially travelled to by a surgical arm of the teleoperational medical system to suitably perform a surgical procedure, the motion limit being a boundary beyond which the surgical arm cannot pass;

determining a current arrangement of the surgical arm using sensing elements; and

notifying an operator via an output device when the motion limit might inhibit the surgical arm from moving toward the stored surgical threshold limit.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein notifying the operator when the motion limit might potentially inhibit the surgical arm from moving toward the stored surgical threshold limit comprises:

notifying the operator when the stored surgical threshold limit is within 10 degrees of the motion limit.

20. The method of claim 18 , wherein notifying the operator via the output device when the motion limit might inhibit the surgical arm from moving comprises notifying the operator only when there is available range of motion in a desired direction.