Granted Patent B2

US 12,376,927 · App. 17/364,246 · Granted Aug 5, 2025

Inventors: Julien Chassot (Lechelles, CH); Michael Friedrich (Bern, CH); Patrick Schoeneich (Lausanne, CH); Mehrnaz Salehian (Lausanne, CH)

Assignee: Distalmotion SA

A61B34/37A61B18/1442A61B34/20A61B34/25A61B34/74A61B34/77B25J9/1682A61B2017/0046A61B2034/302A61B2034/305A61B90/98G16H40/63

Abstract

Claims (34)

1. A system for remote manipulation to perform surgery, the system comprising:

a slave console comprising a slave hub, an alignment joint disposed proximal of the slave hub, and a plurality of slave links coupled to a base;

a surgical instrument configured to be received in the slave hub and coupled to the slave console, the surgical instrument including a distal region configured to be inserted into a patient at a surgical site to perform robotic surgery;

an incision pointer configured to be removably coupled to the alignment joint to facilitate an alignment of the alignment joint and the surgical site; and

a controller configured to execute instructions to:

set a virtual remote center-of-motion of the surgical instrument based on the alignment of the alignment joint and the surgical site; and

cause at least one of the plurality of slave links distal to the alignment joint to move responsive to movement applied at a handle of a master console operatively coupled to the slave console to thereby move the surgical instrument to perform the robotic surgery, while restricting movements of the surgical instrument about the virtual remote center-of-motion and maintaining alignment of the alignment joint with the surgical site during the robotic surgery.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the incision pointer is configured to be removably coupled to the alignment joint via a magnetic attachment.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to set the virtual remote center-of-motion based on the alignment of the alignment joint and a trocar positioned through the surgical site.

4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising the handle, wherein the handle is removably coupleable to the master console such that the handle can be removed after the robotic surgery and sterilized for additional robotic surgeries.

5. The system of claim 4 , further comprising:

a sterile drape interface coupled to a sterile drape configured to cover non-sterile portions of the master console, the sterile drape interface configured to couple to the master console and define an opening configured to receive a portion of the handle,

the handle configured to couple to the master console by having the portion inserted through the opening and into engagement with the master console.

6. The system of claim 5 , further comprising a cap configured to cover the opening to avoid accidental contact of a user with an interior of the master console, the cap configured to be removed prior to coupling the handle to the master console.

7. The system of claim 5 , wherein the sterile drape interface includes a rigid ring.

8. The system of claim 4 , wherein the handle includes extensions that are configured to engage with a groove in the master console when the handle is coupled to the master console, the engagement of the extensions with the groove configured to prevent lateral movement of the handle relative to the master console while allowing the handle to rotate relative to the master console.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the handle is configured to be released from the master console via retraction of a release grip that causes the extensions to move radially inward and disengage from the groove.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to execute instructions to cause, in response to an input at the slave console, the plurality of slave links to move from a first configuration to a second configuration by retracting away from the patient to expose the surgical site such that a user can perform non-robotic surgery at the surgical site.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the controller is further configured to execute instructions to determine that the surgical instrument has been removed from the patient at the surgical site,

the controller configured to cause the plurality of slave links to move to the second configuration in response to the input at the slave console and determining that the surgical instrument has been removed from the patient.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the controller is further configured to execute instructions to cause, in response to a second input at the slave console, the plurality of slave links to move from the second configuration back to the first configuration.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of slave links in the first configuration is configured to enable the surgical instrument to be coupled to the slave console and positioned at the surgical site.

14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the alignment joint remains aligned with the virtual remote center-of-motion in the second configuration.

15. The system of claim 10 , wherein the controller is disposed in a slave link of the plurality of slave links.

16. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to cause at least one of the plurality of slave links to move responsive to movement applied at the handle of the master console by:

generating signals indicative of scaled movements corresponding to the movement applied at the handle; and

causing the at least one of the plurality of slave links to move at a scaled degree corresponding to the movement applied at the handle based on the signals.

17. The system of claim 1 , wherein the surgical instrument includes an end effector configured to move in a plurality of degrees-of-freedom, and the controller is further configured to execute instructions to cause the end effector to move in at least one of the plurality of degrees-of-freedom responsive to movement applied at the handle.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the controller is configured to execute instructions to cause the end effector to move by:

causing the end effector to move in a first degree-of-freedom of the plurality of degrees-of-freedom at a first scaled degree based on a corresponding movement applied at the handle; and

causing the end effector to move in a second degree-of-freedom of the plurality of degrees-of-freedom at a second scaled degree based on a corresponding movement applied at the handle.

19. The system of claim 1 , further comprising first and second foot pedals, wherein at least one of the first and second foot pedals, when actuated, is configured to prevent the plurality of slave links from moving responsive to the movement applied at the handle.

20. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to execute instructions to prevent movement of slave links proximal to the alignment joint.

21. The system of claim 1 , wherein the incision pointer comprises a head configured to couple to the alignment joint and a shaft extending from the head.

Assignments (3)

Continuity (7)

References Cited (400)

Cited By (3)

US 1,117,774 US 1,117,776 US 12,491,040