Devices, systems, and methods for providing commanded movement of an end effector of a manipulator while providing a desired movement of one or more joints of the manipulator. Methods include augmenting a Jacobian so that joint movements calculated from the Jacobian perform one or more auxiliary tasks and/or desired joint movements concurrent with commanded end effector movement, the one or more auxiliary tasks and/or desired joint movements extending into a null-space. The auxiliary tasks and desired joint movements include inhibiting movement of one or more joints, inhibiting collisions between adjacent manipulators or between a manipulator and a patient surface, commanded reconfiguration of one or more joints, or various other tasks or combinations thereof. Such joint movements may be provided using joint velocities calculated from the pseudo-inverse solution of the augmented Jacobian. Various configurations for systems utilizing such methods are provided herein.

A surgical system includes a surgical tool, a tracking system configured to obtain tracking data indicative of positions of the surgical tool relative to an anatomical feature, an acoustic device, and a computer system programmed to control the acoustic device to provide acoustic feedback to a user based on the tracking data.

A hand controller for enabling a user to perform an activity and method for controlling a robotic arm is provided. The hand controller includes a bar with a grip and a plurality of motors to provide a force feedback to the user in response to the movement of the plurality of mechanical arms. The method involves receiving input corresponding to the manipulation of a bar and providing a force feedback in response to the movement of the plurality of mechanical arms.

Robotic medical systems may perform robotic movement that is saturated according to one or more constraints of the system. A robotic system can include a robotic arm configured to control a medical instrument. The robotic system can receive a first user input from a user for moving the robotic arm to control the medical instrument. The robotic system can guide the movement of the robotic arm along a collision boundary surrounding an object in accordance with the first user input and one or more secondary constraints.

A surgical robotic arm includes a first link; a second link coupled to the first link at a first joint such that at least one of the first link or the second link is movable relative to each other; and a first actuator configured to move at least one of the first link or the second link. The surgical robotic arm also includes a joint torque sensor disposed within the first joint and configured to measure torque imparted on at least one of the first link or the second link to obtain a measured torque value. The surgical robotic arm further includes a controller configured to: determine an estimated joint torque value; compare the estimated joint torque value to the measured torque value; and determine an environmental torque value based on a comparison of the estimated joint torque value and the measured torque value.

Systems and methods for saturated robotic movement are provided. In one aspect, there is provided a robotic system, including a robotic arm configured to control movement of a medical instrument, and a processor configured to: receive a first user input from a user for moving the medical instrument with the robotic arm, determine that moving the robotic arm according to the first user input would cause a contact point of the robotic arm to contact or cross a collision boundary surrounding an object, and guide the movement of the robotic arm such that the contact point of the robotic arm continuously moves along the collision boundary based in part on the first user input, in response to the determination that moving the robotic arm according to the first user input would cause the contact point to contact or cross the collision boundary.

A surgical system includes a robotic device, and a surgical tool coupled to the robotic device and comprising a distal end. The system further includes a neural monitor configured to generate an electrical signal and apply the electrical signal to the distal end of the surgical tool, wherein the electrical signal causes innervation of a first portion of a patient's anatomy which generates an electromyographic signal, and a sensor configured to measure the electromyographic signal. The neural monitor is configured to determine a distance between the distal end of the surgical tool and a portion of nervous tissue based on the electrical signal and the electromyographic signal, and cause feedback to be provided to a user based on the distance.

A medical instrument for surgery includes at least one frame and at least one jointed device. The jointed device includes at least one first joint member, or first link, adapted to connect to at least one portion of the frame and at least one second joint member, or second link. The first joint member is connected by a rotational joint to the second joint member. The medical instrument includes at least a pair of tendons, adapted to move the second joint member with respect to the first joint member. Each of the first joint member and the second joint member includes a main structural body made in a single piece with one or more convex contact surfaces. Each of the convex contact surfaces is a ruled surface formed by straight line portions all parallel to each other and substantially parallel to a joint movement axis.

A closed loop control system automatically ensures that an output of a device is constant. The system can receive an input to set a fixed value for a variable (e.g., a current, a heart rate, a tissue perfusion, an ion level, etc.), and this variable can be delivered to a feedback component. The system can also include the device to deliver the variable to a load. The feedback component can be coupled to the delivery device to sample the output of the delivery device at different times. Based on the sampling, the feedback component can vary a property of the delivery device related to the delivery of the variable to the load to ensure that the variable remains constant at the fixed value. In some instances, the system can be implemented as a stimulator that delivers the constant current of a current source and has a low output impedance of a voltage source.

A medical safety-system for dynamic 3D healthcare environments, a medical examination system with motorized equipment, an image acquisition arrangement, and a method for providing safe movements in dynamic 3D healthcare environments. The medical safety-system for dynamic 3D healthcare environments includes a detection system, a processing unit, and an interface unit. The detection system includes at least one sensor arrangement to provide depth information of at least a part of an observed scene. The processing unit includes a correlation unit to assign the depth information and a generation unit to generate a 3D free space model to provide the 3D free space model.