The invention is directed to manipulator assembly (2) for holding and manipulating a surgical instrument (14) in a telerobotic system. The manipulator assembly includes an instrument holder removably coupled to a drive assembly so that the holder can be sterilized. The assembly further includes a force sensing element (52) mounted distal to the holder and the drive assembly for detecting forces exerted on the surgical instrument and providing feedback to the surgeon. The invention is also directed to a system and method for releasably holding a surgical instrument (14). The system includes an instrument support for automatically locking mounting pins on the instrument within locking slots on the instrument holder to releasably couple the instrument to the holder. With a twist-lock motion, the surgeon can rapidly engage and disengage various instruments from the holder during a surgical procedure, such as open surgery, laparoscopy or thoracoscopy.

Surgical manipulator for a telerobotic system

The invention is directed to a system and method for releasably holding a surgical instrument (14), such as an endoscopic instrument configured for delivery through a small percutaneous penetration in a patient. The instrument comprises an elongate shaft (100) with a pair of mounting pins (116) laterally extending from the shaft between its proximal and distal ends. An instrument holder comprises a support having a central bore (202) and an axially extending slot (204) for receiving the instrument shaft and the mounting pins. A pair of locking slots (206) are cut into the support transversely to and in communication with the axial slot so that the mounting pins can be rotated within the locking slots. The instrument support further includes a latch assembly for automatically locking the mounting pins within the locking slots to releasably couple the instrument to the instrument holder. With this twist-lock motion, the surgeon can rapidly engage and disengage various instruments from the holder during a surgical procedure, such as open surgery, laparoscopy or thoracoscopy.

System and method for releasably holding a surgical instrument

Surgical methods and devices allow closed-chest surgery to be performed on a heart of a patient while the heart is beating. A region of the heart is stabilized by engaging a surface of the heart with a stabilizer without having to stop the heart. Motion of the target tissues is inhibited sufficiently to treat the target tissues with robotic surgical tools which move in response to inputs of a robotic system operator. A stabilizing surface of the stabilizer is coupled to a drive system to position the surface from outside the patient, preferably by actuators of the robotic servomechanism. Exemplary stabilizers includes a suture or other flexible tension member spanning between a pair of jointed bodies, allowing the member to occlude a coronary blood vessel and/or help stabilize the target region between the stabilizing surfaces.

Stabilizer for robotic beating-heart surgery

A surgical system or assembly for performing cardiac surgery includes a surgical instrument (82); a servo-mechanical system engaged to the surgical instrument for operating the surgical instrument; and an attachment assembly for removing at least one degree of movement from a moving surgical cardiac worksite. The surgical system or assembly also includes a motion tracking system (88); and a control computer (34) engaged to the attachment assembly, the motion tracking system and to the servo-mechanical system for controlling movement of the attachment assembly and for feeding gathered information to the servo-mechanical system for moving the surgical instrument.

Performing cardiac surgery without cardioplegia

In a telemanipulation system for manipulating objects located in a workspace at a remote worksite by an operator from an operator's station, such as in a remote surgical system, the remote worksite having a manipulator with an end effector for manipulating an object at the workspace, such as a body cavity, a controller including a hand control at the control operator's station for remote control of the manipulator, an image capture device, such as a camera, and image output device for reproducing a viewable real-time image, the improvement wherein a position sensor associated with the image capture device senses position relative to the end effector and a processor transforms the viewable real-time image into a perspective image with correlated manipulation of the end effector by the hand controller such that the operator can manipulate the end effector and the manipulator as if viewing the workspace in true presence. Image transformation according to the invention includes translation, rotation and perspective correction.

Method and apparatus for transforming coordinate systems in a telemanipulation system

The Robotic Systems Technology Branch at the NASA/Johnson Space Center has completed a baseline ground control testbed for use in developing and evaluating technology for Space Station Freedom (SSF) Robotic Tasks. The focus of the first phase of this work has been addressing the effects of significant ground-to-orbit time delays on operations. This testbed uses a predictive display to enable virtual realtime control of a remote robot. The operator commands a graphical kinematic manipulator through hand controllers or automated sequences which, in turn, drive the actual manipulator after a user-defined delay. The predictive display provides artificial camera views that enable the operator to measure clearances not available in actual camera views. A delayed camera control interface, and a robot verification display are also available. All testbed components are connected in a distributed processing environment. The ground control testbed architecture and technology utilized to address the time delays are described. >

R.S. Askew

Papers

Ground control testbed for Space Station Freedom robot manipulators