Selected and edited published applications from recent editions
of the patents journal. This month is Category A: ‘Human necessities’
devices, such as endoscopes, to provide
the operator with a view of the remote
surgical site on a display.
However, methods of controlling
the endoscope are inef cient at best.
Speci cally, the method in which a camera
assistant controls the endoscope can lead
to delays and errors (e.g. it is possible for
the surgeon to become disorientated by
the movement of the endoscope frame of
reference with respect to the surgeon’s
position). In the method in which the
surgeon uses the input device to control
the endoscope, the surgeon needs to stop
the surgical procedure before the surgeon
can manipulate the endoscope to change
his/her viewpoint of the surgical site. In
contrast, during normal open surgery the
surgeon can move their head in response
to a need or stimulus to change their
viewpoint of the surgical site while carrying
on with the procedure at the same time.
There is, therefore, a need for an
improved master-slave system which
would allow a surgeon to more intuitively
and comfortably change their view of the
surgical site while at the same time being
able to carry on with the procedure at hand.
Accordingly, the present invention
provides a master-slave system
comprising: a rst manipulator supporting
a rst end effector; a second manipulator
supporting a second end effector; an
input device con gured to concurrently
receive from a hand of an operator a rst
movement command to effect a desired
movement of the rst end effector, and
a second movement command to effect
a desired movement of the second end
effector; and a processor con gured to
determine a desired movement of the
rst and the second end
effectors in response
to the rst and second
movement commands
received from the input
device.
A surgical master-slave system
GB2571319A
Keith Marshall, Rebecca Anne Cuthbertson,
Gordon Thomas Deane
CMR Surgical
Typically, in robotic master-slave systems,
an operator controls the movements of a
number of teleoperated tools using one
or more input devices. Consequently, the
operator can control the tools without
needing to be in the same location as
the worksite in which the tools are being
manipulated. Image capture devices, such
as cameras, and a display for displaying
a view of the captured images may be
included to provide the operator with a
view of the worksite. Some applications
of robotic master-slave systems include
assembly, maintenance or exploration in
hazardous environments, and minimally
invasive surgical systems.
In surgical systems in particular, the
operator(s) who may be a surgeon, an
assistant, a student or a combination
thereof can remotely manipulate a
number of remote tools (such as
surgical instruments) supported by
a number of robotic manipulators
by manipulating a number of input
devices at an operator’s console
(e.g. a surgeon’s console). As
well as surgical
instruments, the
robotic manipulators
may support image
capture
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