Generally, a sterile adapter for use in robotic surgery may include a frame configured to be interposed between a tool driver and a surgical tool, a plate assembly coupled to the frame, and at least one rotatable coupler supported by the plate assembly and configured to communicate torque from an output drive of the tool driver to an input drive of the surgical tool.

The present invention proposes a sensory perception system for robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery. The invention comprises an electrosurgical forceps coupled to a surgical tool, an electrocautery radiofrequency signal generator and an impedance measurement circuit. The latter includes a measurement sensor for measuring a signal indicative of a magnitude corresponding to the value of contact impedance between the forceps and a patient's tissue; an oscillator; a first electrical circuit with resistors and a voltage limiter for protecting the measurement sensor and the oscillator; and a second electronic circuit with switches. The sensor and the oscillator are connected to the forceps by means of a power cable of the surgical tool. A processor connected to the measurement circuit receives said measured signal and converts same into a force vector, the modulus of which is a function of the contact impedance being measured and the argument is a function of the trajectory being followed.

A surgery supporting apparatus is capable of controlling a posture of a surgical instrument that is inserted into a body cavity and mechanically drivable. The apparatus includes a robot arm that can control the posture of the surgical instrument, which is attached to the robot arm via a gimbal mechanism.

Robotic surgical systems and methods of operating robotic surgical systems are included. The methods include directing light at an optical element configured to be detected by an image capture device of the robotic surgical system, the optical element configured to reflect light having a wavelength within a predetermined range, detecting, using an image capture device capturing images of the optical element, an absence or a presence of the reflected light from the optical element, and providing a notification, in response to the detection by the image capture device of the absence of the reflected light from the optical element.

A surgical instrument connectable to a surgical energy module that is configured to provide a first drive signal at a first frequency range for driving a first energy modality and a second drive signal at a second frequency range for driving a second energy modality is provided. The surgical instrument can comprise a surgical instrument component configured to receive power from a direct current (DC) power source, an end effector, and a circuit. The circuit can be configured to convert the first electrical signal to a DC voltage, apply the DC voltage to the surgical instrument component, and deliver the second energy modality to the end effector according to the second drive signal. Alternatively, the circuit can be disposed within a cable assembly configured to connect the surgical instrument to the surgical energy module.

The disclosed embodiments relate to systems and methods for a surgical tool or a surgical robotic system. A tool driver is coupled to a distal end of a robotic arm and includes a roll drive disk driven by a rotary motor. One or more processors are configured to detect an attachment of a surgical tool to the tool driver. The surgical tool includes a roll tool disk to be engaged with the roll drive disk of the tool driver, actuate of the roll drive disk through the rotary motor, determine that a measured torque of the rotary motor exceeds a preset torque threshold for a preset period of time since the actuation, and report a successful engagement between the roll drive disk and the roll tool disk.

A method is described for performing a percutaneous operation on a patient to remove an object from a cavity within the patient. The method includes advancing a first alignment sensor into the cavity through a patient lumen. The first alignment sensor provides its position and orientation in free space in real time. The alignment sensor is manipulated until it is located in proximity to the object. A percutaneous opening is made in the patient with a surgical tool, where the surgical tool includes a second alignment sensor that provides the position and orientation of the surgical tool in free space in real time. The surgical tool is directed towards the object using data provided by both the first and the second alignment sensors.

A surgical instrument is described that includes a surgical effector moving with N degrees of freedom for manipulation of objects at a surgical site during surgical procedures. The surgical effector can be manipulated by actuating a first input controller to control a length of a first cable segment to move the surgical effector in at least one degree of freedom of movement and actuating a second input controller to control a length of a second cable segment to move the surgical effector in the at least one degree of freedom of movement. The surgical effector can be manipulated by moving a differential that couples the first and second input controllers together to conserve a length of cable between the first input controller and the second input controller.

For teleoperation of a surgical robotic system, the user command for the pose of the end effector is projected into a subspace reachable by the end effector. For example, a user command with six DOF is projected to a five DOF subspace. The six DOF user interface device may be used to more intuitively control, based on the projection, the end effector with the limited DOF relative to the user interface device.

A surgical robotic system includes a robotic arm having a plurality of joints and a surgical instrument and a surgical console. The surgical console includes one or more handle controllers configured to receive a user input and to provide haptic feedback based on movement of the robotic arm. The surgical console may also include a controller configured to: output a commanded pose based on the user input, wherein the robotic arm is configured to move in response the commanded pose; and process the commanded pose through a motion integrator algorithm to generate the haptic feedback.