A virtual reality system providing a virtual robotic surgical environment, and methods for using the virtual reality system, are described herein. Within the virtual reality system, various user modes enable different kinds of interactions between a user and the virtual robotic surgical environment. For example, one variation of a method for facilitating navigation of a virtual robotic surgical environment includes displaying a first-person perspective view of the virtual robotic surgical environment from a first vantage point, displaying a first window view of the virtual robotic surgical environment from a second vantage point and displaying a second window view of the virtual robotic surgical environment from a third vantage point. Additionally, in response to a user input associating the first and second window views, a trajectory between the second and third vantage points can be generated sequentially linking the first and second window views.

A virtual reality system providing a virtual robotic surgical environment, and methods for using the virtual reality system, are described herein. Within the virtual reality system, various user modes enable different kinds of interactions between a user and the virtual robotic surgical environment. For example, one variation of a method for facilitating navigation of a virtual robotic surgical environment includes displaying a first-person perspective view of the virtual robotic surgical environment from a first vantage point, displaying a first window view of the virtual robotic surgical environment from a second vantage point and displaying a second window view of the virtual robotic surgical environment from a third vantage point. Additionally, in response to a user input associating the first and second window views, a trajectory between the second and third vantage points can be generated sequentially linking the first and second window views.

The embodiments of the present invention provide a system and method for light and shadow guided needle positioning. DICOM images of a patient are captured for identifying a point of insertion of a needle on the patient's body and a target point inside the patient's body. Needle coordinates are computed based on the captured DICOM images to position the mechanical arms. Light is projected at a particular angle on the needle to form shadows of the needle. Laser light beams are projected to form cross hair at the point of insertion. Images or videos of the point of insertion, shadow of the needle and the cross hair are captured and displayed on a monitoring unit. A virtual circle is projected on the displayed image and is aligned with the point of insertion, shadow of the needle and cross hair in order to insert the needle precisely.

Provided are a bending structure and a flexible tube for a medical manipulator, which comprise a main body that is composed of the wave washers stacked in an axial direction and kept a stacked state, the main body being bendable according to the expansion and contraction in the axial direction. Accordingly, linearity of load characteristics based on load and a bending angle is made high to make it possible to obtain the flexible tube having superior load bearing and bendability while conducting size reduction.

A control system for regulating operative control of a surgical instrument by a remote surgeon input device. The surgical instrument is supported by an articulated robot arm, and comprises an end effector connected to a shaft by an articulated coupling. The remote surgeon input device is capable of operatively controlling the surgical instrument by controlling articulation of the end effector, and controlling articulation of the robot arm and coupling. On receiving a request to engage operative control of the surgical instrument by the surgeon input device, the control system initially engages operative control of articulation of the robot arm and coupling by the surgeon input device, whilst maintaining disengagement of operative control of articulation of the end effector by the surgeon input device. Subsequently, the control system engages operative control of articulation of the end effector by the surgeon input device following a manipulation of the surgeon input device.

An end effector is removably connected to a robot arm under sterile conditions with an arm mount module configured to be permanently connected to the robot arm, and an arm drape module configured to be removably connected to the arm mount module by a first locking mechanism. A third module, which is a passive end effector, may be configured to be removably connected to the arm drape module by a second locking mechanism. In some embodiments, a sterile hand drape module is configured to be removably connected to the arm drape module by the second locking mechanism; and a hand mount module is configured to be removably connected to the hand drape module by a third locking mechanism, and to be permanently connected to the end effector or the hand mount module is the end effector itself.
The systems for connecting an end effector to a robot arm provide a signal or energy transmission pathway between the robot arm and the end effector. The transmitted energy can be electrical or mechanical.

A surgical robot system includes a robot system including a robotic arm having a surgical instrument coupled thereto, a surgical console including an input device, and a control unit configured to control the robotic arm based on input commands from the input device. The input device includes a gimbal including first, second, and third links, a handle controller coupled to the first link of the gimbal, and a gimbal-mounted actuator assembly including a first actuator supported on the gimbal. The first actuator is configured to effect a function of the surgical instrument coupled to the robotic arm.

Embodiments of architecture, systems, and methods to develop a learning/evolving system to robotically perform and model one or more activities of a medical procedure where the medical procedure may include diagnosing a patient's medical condition(s), treating medical condition(s), and robotically diagnosing a patient's medical condition(s) and performing one or more medical procedure activities based on the diagnosis without User intervention where the activities may be performed in computer-based environment formed by the learning/evolving system, live, or a combination thereof.

A medical manipulator system that includes a joint, a first sensor that detects an amount of rotational motion of the joint, an actuator that drives the joint via a wire, a second sensor that detects an amount of operation of the actuator based on a rotation angle of the actuator, an input device, and a controller. The controller generates a control signal based on: an operation mode in which the control signal is generated by a transfer function that receives an input target value of the rotation angle of the joint and the amount of operation of the actuator, and a calibration mode in which the transfer function is adjusted based on comparing to a predetermined threshold value the amount of rotational motion of the joint and the amount of operation of the actuator. The controller then transmits the generated control signal to the actuator to drive the joint.

Medical software tools platforms utilize a surgical display to provide access to specific medical software tools, such as medically-oriented applications or widgets, that can assist surgeons or surgical team in performing various procedures. In particular, an endoscopic camera may register the momentary rise in the optical signature reflected from a tissue surface and in turn transmit it to a medical image processing system which can also receive patient heart rate data and display relevant anomalies. Changes in various spectral components and the speed at which they change in relation to a source of stimulus (heartbeat, breathing, light source modulation, etc.) may indicate the arrival of blood, contrast agents or oxygen absorption. Combinations of these may indicate various states of differing disease or margins of tumors, and so forth. Also, changes in temperatures, physical dimensions, pressures, photoacoustic pressures and the rate of change may indicate tissue anomalies in comparison to historic values.