The apparatus of one embodiment of the present invention is comprised of a flexible sheath instrument, a flexible guide instrument, and a tool. The flexible sheath instrument comprises a first instrument base removably coupleable to an instrument driver and defines a sheath instrument working lumen. The flexible guide instrument comprises a second instrument base removably coupleable to the instrument driver and is threaded through the sheath instrument working lumen. The guide instrument also defines a guide instrument working lumen. The tool is threaded through the guide instrument working lumen. For this embodiment of the apparatus, the sheath instrument and guide instrument are independently controllable relative to each other.

A steerable arm for use in endoscopic surgical procedures. The steerable arm cut from a tube of nitinol to provide flexibility and resilience by the structure into which the tube is cut. Typically, the cut tube comprises a spiralling coil, the loops of which are in contact on one lateral side of the tube and the tube is bent to open apart the loops on the other lateral side. The material which the tube is made of is capable of retaining memory of the bend. This provides a bias for restoring the tube to the bend whenever a force causing the tube to flex is removed.

Provided is a micro robot position detection device. The device includes a micro robot position detection unit that uses a micro robot control parameter to filter a reflected signal of an ultra wide-band impulse radar signal emitted to a micro robot to extract, as a micro robot signal, a natural oscillating frequency signal generated when the micro robot is driven through control of external electromagnetic field, and analyzes the micro robot signal based on a transmission and reception parameter of the ultra wide-band impulse radar signal to calculate position information for the micro robot. Also, the device may further include an image matching unit that receives position information for the micro robot and performs position correction on the received position information based on pre-stored reference image data and the image data.

Methods and devices are provided for robotic surgery, and in particular for measuring a rotational position of elongate shafts of surgical tools. For example, a surgical tool is provided with an elongate shaft having an end effector at a distal end thereof. The elongate shaft is rotatable about a longitudinal axis of the shaft, and the surgical tool is configured to measure a rotational position of the shaft about the longitudinal axis relative to an initial position.

The present invention is directed to a surgical instrument with a robotics system, a memory device and an end effector having an elongate channel, knife position sensor(s) and a firing bar coupled to a knife. In response to drive motions initiated by the robotics system, the firing bar may translate within the elongate channel. As the firing bar translates, the sensor(s) transmit a signal to the memory device. The position of the knife may be determined from the output signals and may be communicated to the robotics system or instrument user. The sensors may be Hall Effect sensors.

Origami robots, and associated systems, methods of treatment, and methods of manufacture are provided. A system includes an origami robot encapsulated for ingestion by a patient, such as in a biocompatible material that is dissolvable or meltable within the gastrointestinal tract. A method of treatment includes delivering an origami robot in a folded position into a gastrointestinal tract of a patient, causing the origami robot to unfold within the gastrointestinal tract, and directing the origami robot to a site requiring treatment in the gastrointestinal tract.

Systems, devices and methods are provided in which an instrument can translate along an insertion axis. Rather than relying primarily on a robotic arm for instrument insertion, the instruments described herein have novel instrument based insertion architectures that allow portions of the instruments themselves to translate along an insertion axis. For example, an instrument can comprise a shaft, an end effector on a distal end of the shaft, and a handle coupled to the shaft. The architecture of the instrument allows the shaft to translate relative to the handle along an axis of insertion. The translation of the shaft does not interfere with other functions of the instrument, such as end effector actuation.

Systems and methods for determining a safety layer for an anatomical element are provided. A cutting tool contacting the anatomical element at a first surface may be detected and dimensional information about the anatomical element may be received. A safety layer may be determined for the anatomical element based on the dimensional information and the detected contact between the cutting tool and the anatomical element at the first surface.

Systems and methods for electromagnetic (EM) distortion detection and compensation are disclosed. In one aspect, the system includes an instrument, the system configured to: determine a reference position of the distal end of the instrument at a first time based on EM location data, determine that the distal end of the instrument at a second time is static, and determine that the EM location data at the second time is indicative of a position of the distal end of the instrument having changed from the reference position by greater than a threshold distance. The system is further configured to: determine a current offset based on the distance between the position at the second time and the reference position at the first time, and determine a compensated position of the distal end of the instrument based on the EM location data and the current offset.

A system and method for variable damping of a hand-controlled input device, thereby providing damped control of a medical tool (e.g., for teleoperation), is disclosed. The system includes a robotic user interface and a control unit for applying different variable damping coefficients to the robotic user interface based on one or more variables. The robotic user interface includes one or more links and one or more joints that cooperate to facilitate remote manipulation of a medical tool. The control unit is configured to receive motion information from the one or more joints, determine a damping modifier from a plurality of different damping modifiers based on the received motion information, apply the determined damping modifier to at least one joint of the one or more joints to modify a force or torque of the at least one joint during a manipulation of the medical tool.