Granted Patent B2

US 12,350,827 · App. 18/671,140 · Granted Jul 8, 2025

Inventor: Nicola Diolaiti (Menlo Park, CA)

Assignee: INTUITIVE SURGICAL OPERATIONS, INC.

B25J9/065A61B34/35A61B34/37G05B19/4155A61B2034/301G05B2219/45117

Abstract

Claims (51)

1. A method comprising:

monitoring movement of an elongate device;

receiving user input commanding motion of the elongate device;

determining a mode of operation based on at least one of the monitored movement or the received user input; and

adjusting a property of the elongate device based on a profile associated with the mode of operation, wherein the adjusting the property of the elongate device includes:

maintaining the property of the elongate device substantially the same during a first interval;

reducing a rigidity of the elongate device at a first rate during a second interval; and

reducing the rigidity of the elongate device at a second rate, different from the first rate, during a third interval.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein maintaining the rigidity substantially the same during the first interval is based on the monitored movement including retraction of the elongate device by an amount less than a threshold.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein:

reducing the rigidity of the elongate device at the first rate during the second interval is based on the monitored movement including retraction of the elongate device by an amount greater than the threshold, and

reducing the rigidity of the elongate device at the second rate during the third interval is based on the monitored movement including retraction of the elongate device by an amount greater than the threshold.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein:

reducing the rigidity of the elongate device at the first rate during the second interval is based on a retraction velocity of the elongate device during the second interval being less than a second threshold, and

reducing the rigidity of the elongate device at the second rate during the third interval is based on the retraction velocity of the elongate device during the third interval being greater than the second threshold.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein maintaining the rigidity substantially the same during the first interval is based on the user input commanding the elongate device to retract less than a threshold.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein:

reducing the rigidity of the elongate device at the first rate during the second interval is based on the user input commanding the elongate device to retract more than the threshold, and

reducing the rigidity of the elongate device at the second rate during the third interval is based on the user input commanding the elongate device to retract more than the threshold.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein:

reducing the rigidity of the elongate device at the first rate during the second interval is based on the user input commanding the elongate device to retract at a velocity less than a second threshold, and

reducing the rigidity of the elongate device at the second rate during the third interval is based on the user input commanding the elongate device to retract at a velocity greater than the second threshold.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second rate is faster than the first rate.

9. A method comprising:

monitoring movement of an elongate device;

receiving user input commanding motion of the elongate device;

determining a mode of operation based on at least one of the monitored movement or the received user input; and

adjusting a property of the elongate device based on a profile associated with the mode of operation,

wherein the profile is based on at least one of: an amount of retraction from a latched position, a velocity of retraction, a duration of retraction, a total insertion depth, a location as a percentage of current maximum insertion depth, a size of a user input, a speed of a user input, a velocity of a user input, a duration of a user input, or pressure on an input device and

wherein the adjusting the property of the elongate device includes:

maintaining the property of the elongate device substantially the same during a first interval;

adjusting the property of the elongate device at a first rate during a second interval; and

adjusting the property of the elongate device at a second rate that is different from the first rate during a third interval.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the monitored movement of the elongate device is prioritized over the received user input.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the determining the mode of operation includes:

determining a retraction mode based on retraction of the elongate device being greater than a threshold.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the determining the mode of operation includes:

determining the retraction mode based on a retraction velocity of the elongate device being greater than a second threshold.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the determining the mode of operation includes:

determining a retraction mode based on the user input commanding retraction of the elongate device by an amount more than a threshold.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the determining the mode of operation includes:

determining the retraction mode based on the user input commanding a retraction velocity greater than a second threshold.

15. The method of claim 9 , wherein the determining the mode of operation includes:

determining an active mode based on the user input commanding advancement along an insertion axis.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the determining the mode of operation includes:

determining the active mode based on the user input commanding movement along a degree of freedom other than the insertion axis without retraction along the insertion axis.

17. The method of claim 9 , wherein the elongate device is coupled to a device body that is configured to move along an insertion stage, and wherein the monitoring movement of the elongate device includes monitoring movement of the device body along the insertion stage.

18. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

based on a rigidity of the elongate device, limiting a retraction velocity of the elongate device in response to the user input.

19. The method of claim 9 , further comprising limiting a retraction velocity of the elongate device based on a maximum rate of change of rigidity of the elongate device.

20. The method of claim 9 , wherein the second rate is faster than the first rate.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (35)