Granted Patent B2

US 12,622,761 · App. 18/017,090 · Granted May 12, 2026

Inventors: Ka Wai Kwok (Hong Kong, HK); Zhuoliang He (Hong Kong, HK); Ziyang Dong (Hong Kong, HK); Justin Di-Lang Ho (Hong Kong, HK); Ge Fang (Hong Kong, HK)

Assignee: THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

A61B34/37A61B90/11A61B90/37

Abstract

Claims (67)

1 . A method of performing a medical procedure, comprising:

medical imaging to obtain a dataset of a region of interest;

identifying a target position on or within a patient and positioning a patient on an operating table;

identifying the target position relative to the robot position;

determining a needle insertion path, an incision port and robot position based on the data set and the target position;

non-invasive mounting of the robot on the patient at the determined incision port and robot position;

coarse adjustment of the robot performed manually by a surgeon with visual feedback provided by the robot to indicate adjustment accuracy in-situ;

fine adjustment of the robot after coarse adjustment for automatic needle guide positioning guided by one or both of intra-operative medical imaging or robot encoding;

coarse locking of the needle guide after the coarse adjustment,

wherein the coarse locking comprises use of an outer cover,

wherein the outer cover partially encloses a granular jamming mechanism comprising an elastic membrane having granules enclosed therewithin, and wherein the elastic membrane encloses the needle guide, and

wherein the outer cover comprises an expandable ring that is fixed in place around the needle guide, and wherein the fixing comprises installing a locking slider over a locking tab of the outer cover, thereby fixing the outer cover in a fixed shape around the needle guide;

fine locking of the needle guide, after the fine adjustment, by actuating the granular jamming mechanism that provides granular jamming of the needle guide, thereby further limiting movement of the needle guide; and

performing the medical procedure on the region of interest.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the medical imaging is at least one of computed tomography (CT), X-ray, ultrasound (US), or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and wherein the region of interest is in the human body, including the liver, kidney, lung, breast, head, neck, or shoulder.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the medical procedure is at least one of biopsy, drug administration, tumor ablation, tissue repair, drainage, or electrode implantation.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a plurality of robots, a plurality of needle insertion paths, and a plurality of incision ports.

5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the region of interest is a liver within the patient and the medical procedure is treating liver cancer.

6 . A patient-mounted robotic device for image-guided percutaneous procedures, comprising:

a needle guide;

a coarse adjustment mechanism that is manually operated by the surgeon to perform coarse adjustment;

a fine adjustment mechanism that is automatically operated under intra-operative real-time imaging guidance and/or robot encoding to perform fine adjustment;

a fiber-optic light that is configured to provide visual feedback to the surgeon during manual operation to indicate targeting accuracy,

wherein the needle guide accommodates a needle-like surgical instrument,

wherein the needle guide pose is measured with encoders and imaging fiducial markers, and

wherein the fine adjustment mechanism comprises:

multiple co-planar fluid-driven soft actuator chambers that act in concert to adjust the needle guide pose;

a master actuation console that provides hydraulic transmission to the soft chambers,

wherein both the coarse adjustment mechanism and the fine adjustment mechanisms pivot the needle guide about a remote center of motion,

wherein the needle guide is lockable through a granular jamming mechanism that limits movement of the needle guide,

wherein the granular jamming mechanism is coarsely jammable by latching an outer cover that partially encloses the granular jamming mechanism, and

wherein the outer cover comprises a ring having an expandable central opening, wherein the latching comprises installing a locking slider over locking tabs of the outer cover, thereby reducing a size of the central opening, and

a base component that allows mounting of the robotic device on the patient using noninvasive attachment to the patient.

7 . The patient-mounted robotic device according to claim 6 ,

wherein the medical imaging is at least one of computed tomography (CT), X-ray, ultrasound (US), or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and

wherein the encoders and imaging fiducial markers are compatible with at least one of computed tomography (CT), X-ray, ultrasound (US), or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

8 . The patient-mounted robotic device according to claim 6 , wherein the imaging modality is MRI, the encoders are MRI-compatible, the imaging fiducial markers are MRI-based, and the master actuation console is located outside of the operating (MRI) room.

9 . The patient-mounted robotic device according to claim 6 , wherein the imaging modality is CT, X-ray, or ultrasound (US), the encoders are CT-, X-ray-, or US-compatible, and the imaging fiducial markers are CT- X-ray-, or US-based.

10 . The patient-mounted robotic device according to claim 6 , having a weight of 0.5 kg or less, wherein the patient-mounted robotic device is mountable on the patient's abdomen.

11 . The patient-mounted robotic device according to claim 6 , fit within a standard loop coil for MRI imaging.

12 . The patient-mounted robotic device according to claim 6 , wherein two or more robots, including the robot are simultaneously mounted to the patient for multiple needle insertions.

13 . The patient-mounted robotic device according to claim 6 , wherein the remote center of motion is located directly at the incision port when the device is mounted to the patient.

14 . The patient-mounted robotic device according to claim 6 , wherein the granular jamming mechanism comprises an elastic membrane having granules enclosed therewithin, wherein an actuation of the granular jamming mechanism comprises applying vacuum to the granules within the elastic membrane, and wherein the elastic membrane is at least partially enclosed within the outer cover.

15 . A method of performing a medical procedure, comprising:

medical imaging to obtain a dataset of a region of interest;

identifying a target position on or within a patient and positioning a patient on an operating table;

identifying the target position relative to the robot position;

determining a needle insertion path, an incision port and robot position based on the data set and the target position;

non-invasive mounting of the robot on the patient at the determined incision port and robot position;

coarse adjustment of the robot performed manually by a surgeon with visual feedback provided by the robot to indicate adjustment accuracy in-situ;

fine adjustment of the robot after coarse adjustment for automatic needle guide positioning guided by one or both of intra-operative medical imaging or robot encoding;

granular jamming of the needle guide, by actuating a granular jamming mechanism, thereby limiting movement of the needle guide;

enclosing of the granular jamming mechanism by latching an outer cover at least partially over the granular jamming mechanism,

wherein the outer cover comprises a non-continuous ring, and wherein the latching comprises installing a locking slider over locking tabs of the outer cover, thereby fixing the position of the locking tabs relative to one another; and

performing the medical procedure on the region of interest.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the granular jamming mechanism comprises an elastic membrane having granules enclosed therewithin, wherein actuation of the granular jamming mechanism comprises applying vacuum to the granules within the elastic membrane, and wherein the elastic membrane is partially enclosed within the outer cover.

17 . The method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the outer cover further encloses a flexible rotary guide, and wherein the installing the locking slider over the locking tab fixes the outer cover in a fixed shape around the rotary guide, which rotary guide thus constrains a passive holder supporting the needle guide, and thereby also friction-locking the coarse adjustment.

18 . The method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the coarse locking further comprises installing an inner cover over a needle guide base that fixedly supports the needle guide, and

wherein the installing the outer cover comprises installing the outer cover over the inner cover and into fixed engagement with the inner cover.

19 . The method according to claim 18 ,

wherein the inner cover comprises first clip elements, the outer cover comprises second clip elements, and the outer cover is installed over the inner cover in a manner that fixedly engages the first clip elements and the second clip elements.

20 . The method according to claim 19 ,

wherein the locking tab comprises a second clip element of the second clip elements, and

wherein installing of the locking slider over the locking tab provides a final clipping of the outer cover to the inner cover.

Continuity (2)

References Cited (34)