A surgical robotic system is provided comprising a wrist for holding a surgical instrument, an elongated shaft comprising an actuation transmission mechanism for the wrist, and a strut assembly comprising at least three struts which are with respective proximate strut sections flexibly attached to different parts of a base structure and with respective distal strut sections to each other to form a pyramidal structure. The wrist is attached to at least one of said distal strut sections, and each strut is actuatable in longitudinal direction to provide three translational degrees of freedom for positioning the surgical instrument in the workspace. The elongated shaft forms one of the struts of the strut assembly.

Techniques for retracting an instrument into an entry guide include an entry guide manipulator configured to support an entry guide and an instrument manipulator configured to support an instrument. The robotic system is configured to receive a command indicating a commanded movement of the entry guide in a direction parallel to an insertion axis of the entry guide; in response to the commanded movement of the entry guide being greater than a threshold distance in the direction parallel to the insertion axis, cause a response comprising one or more actions selected from the group consisting of: movement, using the instrument manipulator, of one or more rotational joints of the instrument external to the entry guide toward a distal end of the entry guide; and actuation of the one or more rotational joints to straighten the instrument so that the instrument can be retracted into the entry guide.

A method of manufacturing a jointed device of a medical instrument includes providing a machining fixture on a wire electrical discharge machine having an electrical discharge wire. The fixture includes member holes each adapted to accommodate at least one workpiece, the workpiece being adapted to form a portion of the jointed device of the medical instrument. At least two workpieces each include a first workpiece and a second workpiece, accommodated within at least two member holes of the member holes. The fixture is associated with the wire electrical discharge machine so that the electrical discharge wire can cut at most one workpiece at a time. The machining fixture is rotated around a fixture rotation axis at a predetermined angle, which is chosen to provide that the electrical discharge wire can cut only one workpiece at a time. The workpieces are cut by the electrical discharge wire.

A small diameter surgical tool implements an agonist-antagonist deflectable joint. The deflectable joint is an actuatable bendable structure that uses push-pull, agonist-antagonist action of a pair of nested tubes to actuate the joint. The tubes are designed to have non-central, offset neutral axes, and they are fixed together at locations distal to the deflectable joint, such as at their distal ends. Axial translations of the tubes relative to each other causes a push-pull, agonist-antagonist action between the tubes, which causes the deflectable joint to bend. In one implementation, a deflectable joint can be created in nested tubes by configuring radial portions of the tube sidewalls extending along the joint to have an axial region of reduced stiffness. As a result, axial agonist-antagonist motion between the tubes can cause bending of the deflectable joint.

A parallel link mechanism is configured so that a plurality of linear actuators which are supported on a base are used to linearly shift one end part of each of links so as to move an end effector coupled to the other end parts of the links. The manipulator further includes a rotation support part that is provided between the end effector and the parallel link mechanism and that supports the end effector rotatably around a predetermined rotational axis, and a hydraulic drive mechanism that generates in the end effector rotating power around the rotational axis. The manipulator imparts, from the exterior to the hydraulic drive mechanism, change in the working-fluid hydraulic pressure so as to generate movement for rotating the end effector.

The present disclosure relates to high dexterity manipulation systems for microsurgical procedures. The surgical system includes a master apparatus controllably coupled to a slave apparatus configured to couple to a patient's head with a dual tripod structure having two pluralities of linear actuator links pivotally supporting a surgical tool shaft. The motions of the linear actuator links are controlled to provide at least 6 degrees of freedom for the surgical tool shaft. The slave apparatus may further include a redundant axis rotatable tool shaft, thus enabling 7 degrees of freedom for a surgical tool. The surgical system includes sensors enabling forces of interaction between the slave apparatus and its environment to be reflected back to the master apparatus. Forces imparted onto the master apparatus by an operator can be fed forward to control the slave apparatus and scaled down to reduce the forces on target tissues.

When a multitude of devices (200) operate in a transmissive medium (206) and absorb a mechanical wave signal, absorption of the signal by devices (200) closer to the transmission source (208) may limit available signal strength experienced by devices located further from the source. Device design and/or operation can be adjusted to mitigate such attenuation. For example, the properties and/or actions of closer devices can be adjusted to reduce their absorption of the signal, including limiting the action of the absorptive structures employed and/or changing the frequency of absorption.

A patient-side support system includes a base, a platform movably coupled to the base, manipulator assemblies coupled to the platform, instruments, each of the instruments being coupled to a different one of the manipulator assemblies, each of the instruments including a body and a shaft extending from the body, and a guide tube common to the instruments. A first part of the shaft of each individual one of the instruments extends distally from the guide tube to the body. a second part of the shaft of each individual one of the instruments extends through at least a portion of the guide tube. The first part of the shaft of a first instrument of the instruments is articulatable between the body of the first instrument and the guide tube. The guide tube and the instruments are collectively rotatable about a longitudinal axis of the guide tube.

A surgical instrument manipulator comprises a manipulator arm and an instrument mounting structure rotatably mounted to the manipulator arm. The instrument mounting structure comprises: an attachment interface configured to removably couple to a surgical instrument; and a passage within the instrument mounting structure. When the surgical instrument is coupled to the attachment interface, the surgical instrument is fixed to the instrument mounting structure. An elongate body of the surgical instrument extends through the passage when the surgical instrument is coupled to the attachment interface. The instrument mounting structure is rotatable relative to the manipulator arm, and when the surgical instrument is coupled to the attachment interface, rotation of the instrument mounting structure with respect to the manipulator arm causes rotation of the surgical instrument.

A medical robotic system includes articulated instruments extending out of a distal end of an entry guide. Prior to pivoting the entry guide to re-orient it and the instruments, the instruments are moved in tandem back towards the entry guide after a delay. Haptic cues and velocity limits are provided to assist the operator in the retraction of the instruments. After retraction, the entry guide may then be pivoted without concern that the instruments will harm patient anatomy. The movement of the instruments in tandem back towards the entry guide may also occur through coupled control modes while the entry guide is held in a fixed position and orientation.