A powered user interface for a robotic surgical system having a manipulator and a surgical instrument mounted to the manipulator includes a base and a linkage assembly that includes two two-bar linkage mechanisms. The linkage assembly is rotatably mounted to the base at a base joint, and a handle mounted to each of the two-bar linkage mechanisms. Sensors and actuators are arranged to measure and actuate the position and orientation of the user interface.

A powered user interface for a robotic surgical system includes a base, a handle mounted to the base and moveable relative to the base in at least six degrees of freedom, and actuators. The interface operates in accordance with a first mode of operation in which the actuators are operated to constrain predetermined ones of the joints to permit motion of the handle in only 4DOF with respect to the base, and a second mode of operation in which the actuators permit motion of the handle in at least 6DOF with respect to the base.

The present disclosure describes robots and tele-operation systems where a select control paradigm is selected from a plurality of control paradigms based on an identity of an operator, role of an operator, or expected tasks to be performed by the robot. Generic robots can be operated in accordance with any of the plurality of control paradigms, such that any of said generic robots can serve a role or act as an assistant to an operator by selection of an appropriate control paradigm. Control paradigms can be operator specific, or specific to a faction or role which an operator fits in, or specific to a set of tasks to be performed by the robot. The present disclosure also describes feedback mechanisms by which a robot or tele-operator system receive operator feedback and update a control paradigm, to gradually improve the control paradigm over time.

The present disclosure describes robots and tele-operation systems where a select control paradigm is selected from a plurality of control paradigms based on an identity of an operator, role of an operator, or expected tasks to be performed by the robot. Generic robots can be operated in accordance with any of the plurality of control paradigms, such that any of said generic robots can serve a role or act as an assistant to an operator by selection of an appropriate control paradigm. Control paradigms can be operator specific, or specific to a faction or role which an operator fits in, or specific to a set of tasks to be performed by the robot. The present disclosure also describes feedback mechanisms by which a robot or tele-operator system receive operator feedback and update a control paradigm, to gradually improve the control paradigm over time.

A slave manipulator manipulates a medical device in response to operator manipulation of an input device through joint control systems. The stiffness and strength of the slave manipulator are adjustable according to criteria such as the mode of operation of the slave manipulator, the functional type of the medical device currently being held by the slave manipulator, and the current phase of a medical procedure being performed using the slave manipulator by changing corresponding parameters of the control system. For safety purposes, such changes are not made until it is determined that it can be done in a smooth manner without causing jerking of the medical device. Further, an excessive force warning may be provided to surgery staff when excessive forces are being commanded on the slave manipulator for more than a specified period of time.

A virtual reality-based caregiving machine control system includes a visual unit, configured to obtaining environmental information around a caregiving machine, and transmitting the environmental information to a virtual scene generation unit and a calculation unit; the calculation unit, configured to receiving control instructions for the caregiving machine, and obtaining, by calculation according to the environmental information, an action sequence of executing the control instructions by the caregiving machine; the virtual scene generation unit, configured to generating a virtual reality scene from the environmental information, and displaying the virtual reality scene on a touch display screen in combination with the action sequence; and the touch display screen, configured to receiving a touch screen adjusting instruction for the action sequence and feeding back same to the calculation unit for execution, and receiving a confirmation instruction for the action sequence.

An electronic device associates coordinates of a virtual space with coordinates of a real space. The electronic device includes an imaging section, a recognition section, a first setting section, and a display controller. The imaging section captures an image or respective images of a hand and a robot in the real space to generate a captured image of the hand and the robot. The recognition section recognizes a gesture represented by a motion of the hand based on the captured image. The first setting section sets the robot in the virtual space based on coordinates of the hand in the virtual space when it is recognized that the gesture corresponds to a first gesture. The display controller controls display of the robot so that the robot is visible to the human eye.

A coupling device (16, 116, 216, 316) configured optimally to communicate between a first and a second admittance controller and actuator assembly, the first and the second admittance control and actuator assembly respectively having a first and a second admittance controller (12a, 12b) configured to drive a respective first and a second actuator and each of the first and the second actuator being respectively connected to a first body having a first mass and a second body having a second mass, wherein the coupling device (16, 116, 216, 316) comprises: an input port having a first input for receiving a first input force signal (f1) from the first admittance controller and actuator assembly (12a) and a second input for receiving a second input force signal (f2) from the second admittance controller and actuator assembly (12b), and a processor adapted to derive a first output force signal for output to the first admittance controller and actuator assembly based on a Lagrange multiplier dependent on a comparison of the first input force signal and the second input force signal.

Described herein are systems, apparatus, and methods for precise placement and guidance of tools during surgery, particularly spinal surgery, using minimally invasive surgical techniques. Several minimally invasive approaches to spinal surgeries were conceived, percutaneous technique being one of them. This procedures looks to establish a skin opening as small as possible by accessing inner organs via needle-puncture of the skin. The percutaneous technique is used in conjunction with a robotic surgical system to further enhance advantages of manual percutaneous techniques by improving precision, usability and/or shortening surgery time by removal of redundant steps.

Embodiments of a system and method for surgical tracking and control are generally described herein. A system may include a robotic arm configured to allow interactive movement and controlled autonomous movement of an end effector, a cut guide mounted to the end effector of the robotic arm, the cut guide configured to guide a surgical instrument within a plane, a tracking system to determine a position and an orientation of the cut guide, and a control system to permit or prevent interactive movement or autonomous movement of the end effector.