U.S. patent application number 11/948069 was filed with the patent office on 2008-12-18 for rigidly-linked articulating wrist with decoupled motion transmission.
This patent application is currently assigned to Intuitive Surgical, Inc.. Invention is credited to Kenneth Grace.
Application Number | 20080312668 11/948069 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 22996292 |
Filed Date | 2008-12-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080312668 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Grace; Kenneth |
December 18, 2008 |
RIGIDLY-LINKED ARTICULATING WRIST WITH DECOUPLED MOTION
TRANSMISSION
Abstract
The present invention is a device having a rigidly linked jaw
that is decoupled from an articulating wrist. The device provides
for articulating motion as well as actuation that may be used in
grasping, cutting, suturing or the like.
Inventors: |
Grace; Kenneth; (Knoxville,
TN) |
Correspondence
Address: |
PATENT DEPT;INTUITIVE SURGICAL, INC
1266 KIFER RD, BUILDING 101
SUNNYVALE
CA
94086
US
|
Assignee: |
Intuitive Surgical, Inc.
Sunnyvale
CA
|
Family ID: |
22996292 |
Appl. No.: |
11/948069 |
Filed: |
November 30, 2007 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
10013170 |
Jun 7, 2002 |
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11948069 |
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|
09262134 |
Mar 3, 1999 |
6436107 |
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10013170 |
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08873190 |
Jun 11, 1997 |
6102850 |
|
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09262134 |
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08755063 |
Nov 22, 1996 |
5855583 |
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08873190 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
606/147 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61B 17/062 20130101;
A61B 2017/1135 20130101; A61B 34/30 20160201; A61B 34/71 20160201;
A61B 34/75 20160201; A61B 2017/0046 20130101; A61B 34/76 20160201;
A61B 2018/1432 20130101; A61B 2017/00243 20130101; A61B 34/70
20160201; A61B 2090/064 20160201; A61B 34/77 20160201; A61B
2017/2945 20130101; A61B 2034/305 20160201; A61B 34/35 20160201;
A61B 2017/2927 20130101; A61B 50/00 20160201; A61B 2090/504
20160201; A61B 18/1445 20130101; A61B 34/37 20160201; A61B
2017/2929 20130101; A61B 17/00234 20130101; A61B 1/00149 20130101;
A61B 2017/00203 20130101; A61B 90/361 20160201 |
Class at
Publication: |
606/147 |
International
Class: |
A61B 17/04 20060101
A61B017/04 |
Claims
1-22. (canceled)
23. A method for minimally invasive surgery comprising: moving a
first rod along a longitudinal axis of an elongate housing having a
proximal end and a distal end, the movement of the first rod
causing an end effector to pivot about a hinge, the end effector
operably coupled to the distal end of the housing; and moving a
second rod along the longitudinal axis of the elongate housing, the
movement of the second rod being translated into rotational
movement of the end effector by a pin confined to an arcuate
channel, the pin being orthogonal to the direction of movement
caused by the second rod.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of application
Ser. No. 09/262,134, filed Mar. 3, 1999, pending, which is a
continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 08/873,190, filed Jun.
11, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,102,850, which is a
continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 08/755,063, filed Nov.
22, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,855,583.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention generally relates to surgical devices.
More particularly, the present invention relates to a device for
suturing during the performance of minimally invasive endoscopic
surgical procedures and more particularly to an articulating device
for use in endoscopic coronary artery by-pass grafting surgery.
[0004] 2. Description of Related Art
[0005] Blockage of a coronary artery may deprive the heart of the
blood and oxygen required to sustain life. The blockage may be
removed with medication or by an angioplasty. For severe blockage,
a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) is performed to bypass the
blocked area of the artery. CABG procedures are typically performed
by splitting the sternum and pulling open the chest cavity to
provide access to the heart. An incision may be made in the artery
adjacent to the blocked area. The internal mammary artery (IMA) or
some other arterial source of blood-flow may then be severed and
attached to the artery at the point of incision. The IMA bypasses
the blocked area of the artery to again provide a full flow of
blood to the heart.
[0006] Splitting the sternum and opening the chest cavity can
create tremendous trauma on the patient. Additionally, the cracked
sternum prolongs the recovery period of the patient. As such, there
have been developed systems that enable minimally invasive CABG
procedures. These systems utilize hand held tools and small
incisions, on the order of 3-5 inches in length, to provide access
to the thoracic region of a patient.
[0007] Such minimally invasive procedures are conducted by
inserting surgical instruments through small incisions, on the
order of inches in the skin of the patient. Manipulating such
instruments can be awkward, particularly when suturing a graft to
an artery. These systems utilize direct visualization of the
surgical site. Such systems do not enable a completely endoscopic
approach to the CABG procedure because of the need for direct
visualization of the site. Additionally, such systems do not enable
a fully endoscopic approach because of the incision size necessary
to adequately manipulate the surgical instruments at the surgical
site.
[0008] A fully endoscopic approach utilizes small holes to provide
access to the thoracic cavity. Each of these holes is on the order
of 3-11 mm in diameter. In order to perform a CABG procedure in a
fully endoscopic fashion (i.e. using 3-11 mm holes) a robotic
system must be used to filter hand tremors and scale motions made
by the surgeon.
[0009] To facilitate the performance of an endoscopic surgical
procedure, it would be useful to employ surgical instruments that
can maneuver to the surgical site as well as manipulate tissue or
sutures to perform an anastomosis.
[0010] To help minimize risk to the patient, and to minimize
operating time, what is needed in the art is a robotically actuated
surgical device that can articulate as well as actuate without
being overly complex in design.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] The present invention is an articulating device for tissue
and needle manipulation, the device comprising:
[0012] An elongated housing having a proximal end and a distal
end;
[0013] an articulation rod extending interior the housing, the
articulation rod having a proximal end and a distal end;
[0014] an actuation rod extending interior the housing, the
actuation rod having a proximal end and a distal end;
[0015] a rack driver in communication with the actuation rod at the
distal end thereof, the rack driver engaged with a cylindrical rack
for translating the motion of the actuation rod substantially about
ninety degrees; and
[0016] a jaw in communication with the cylindrical rack, whereby
movement of the cylindrical rack actuates the jaw, the jaw further
in pivotal communication with the articulation rod such that linear
movement of the articulation rod produces rotational movement of
the jaw.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] FIG. 1 is a partial break-away perspective view of a device
in accordance with the present invention in a closed angled
configuration;
[0018] FIG. 2 is a partial break-away perspective view of a device
in accordance with the present invention in an open angled
configuration;
[0019] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional perspective view of a device in
accordance with the present invention in an opened straight
configuration;
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0020] Referring to the drawings more particularly by reference
numbers, FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 show a preferred embodiment of the
articulating actuating device 10. The device 10 includes a housing
12. The housing extends substantially the length of the instrument
10 and has a proximal end 14 and a distal end 16 and a longitudinal
axis X. Disposed interiorly the housing 12 is an articulation rod
20 and an actuation rod 30. Each of the articulation rod 20 and the
actuation rod 30 have respective proximal ends 22, 32 and distal
ends 24, 34.
[0021] The proximal ends 22, 32 of the rods may be attached to a
robotic system for the performance of minimally invasive surgical
procedures. One such system is produced by Computer Motion, Inc.
The assignee hereof and is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,855,583,
which is incorporated herein by reference.
[0022] The rods 20, 30 are attached to actuators via attachment
means taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,855,583. Other means for removably
attaching a rod to an actuator are known in the art including the
use of screws, clips or the like. In this way, each of the rods 20,
30 may be driven by the actuator which is connected to various user
interfaces and power sources and are conducive to the performance
of minimally invasive surgical procedures.
[0023] The articulation rod 20 extends substantially the length of
the housing 12 along its longitudinal axis X. The articulation rod
20 is pivotally connected to a jaw 50. Such a pivotal connection
may be accomplished through the use of a hinge 52 attached
intermediate the articulation rod 20 and the jaw 50.
[0024] The jaw 50 pivotally communicates with the housing 12 at the
distal end 16 thereof through the use of a rack 60. In this way,
motion of the articulation rod 20 results in rotation of the jaw
50. The rack 60 provides a pivot about which the jaw 50
rotates.
[0025] The actuation rod 30 provides for actuation of the jaw 50.
The actuation rod has a pin 36 disposed at the distal end 34
thereof. The pin 36 seats in a rack channel 72 disposed in a rack
driver 70. The rack driver is pivotally attached to the housing 12
via a pin 74 or the like. The housing has two longitudinal
apertures 18, 19 formed therethrough at the distal end 16 thereof
to provide for lateral movement of the rack driver 70 which shall
be described in detail hereinbelow.
[0026] Longitudinal motion of the actuation rod 30 moves the pin 36
in the rack channel 72 which translates the longitudinal motion of
the actuation rod 30 into a pivotal motion of the rack driver 70.
The rack driver 70 pivots about the pivot point defined by the pin
74 which attaches the rack driver 70 to the housing 12. The rack
driver 70 may move outside of the space defined as the interior of
the housing through the longitudinal apertures 18, 19.
[0027] The rack driver 70 has a shoulder 76 which engages the rack
60. As the rack driver 70 pivots, the shoulder 76 causes the rack
60 to move laterally, which is orthogonal to the longitudinal
motion of the actuation rod 30 and orthogonal to the longitudinal
axis of the housing 12. The rack 60 is slidably moveable within the
housing 12 through two cylindrical apertures 13, 15 formed
therethrough. As the rack 60 moves laterally, the jaw 50 is
actuated. The lateral movement of the rack 60 is transferred to a
first jaw element 54. A second jaw element 56 is pivotally
connected to the first jaw element 54 via a pin 58 or the like and
is held stationary with respect to the first jaw element 54. In
this way, as the first jaw element is 54 is moved, the second jaw
element 56 remains stationary and the jaw 50 is actuated. If each
element has a sharp edge, then the jaw may function as a
scissors.
[0028] The jaw 50 is always in communication with the rack 60, even
as it is articulated through the motion of the articulation rod 20.
This is accomplished through the use of a cylindrical rack having a
circumferential channel 66 formed therein. The channel 66 receives
the shoulder 76 of the rack driver 70 as well as a shoulder 58 on
the first jaw element 54. As such, as the jaw 50 is articulated,
the shoulder 58 on the first jaw element 54 rotates within the
circumferential channel 66 in the rack 60 maintaining communication
therein and providing for actuation of the jaw 50 regardless of the
articulated position of the jaw 50 caused through motion of the
articulation rod 20.
[0029] In this fashion, the articulation of the jaw 50 and the
actuation of the jaw 50 are decoupled. It is highly advantageous to
provide for a rigidly linked device that is decoupled in this
fashion for several reasons. First, the device is easily
steralizable and secondly, the device is quite safe to use as there
is no use of tensioned cables or the like.
[0030] While certain exemplary embodiments have been described and
shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that
such embodiments are merely illustrative of and not restrictive on
the broad invention, and that this invention not be limited to the
specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, since
various other modifications may occur to those ordinarily skilled
in the art.
* * * * *