EP0456103A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Image-directed robotic system for precise surgery
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1991-05-02
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2011-05-02
Abstract
Abstract A robotic surgical system (10) includes a multiple degree of freedom manipulator arm (14) having a surgical tool (22). The arm is coupled to a controller (24) for controllably positioning the surgical tool within a three dimensional coordinate system. The system further includes a safety monitoring processor (38) for determining the position of the surgical tool in the three dimensional coordinate system relative to a volumetric model. The volumetric model may be represented as a constructive solid geometry (CSG) tree data structure. The system further includes an optical tracking camera system (28,32) disposed for imaging a region of space that includes at least a portion of the manipulator arm. An output of the camera system is coupled to the processor (38) that processes the volumetric model for determining if the surgical tool is positioned outside of the volumetric model. The system further includes a strain gage (40) for detecting slippage in three dimensions between an immobilized tissue, such as bone, and a reference point (44). The system also includes multiple and redundant safety features for suspending a motion of the surgical tool to prevent the tool from operating outside of the predetermined volume of space.
Inventors
- 👤 Edward Glassman
- 👤 William Arthur Hanson
- 👤 Peter Kazanzides
- 👤 Brent D. Mittelstadt
- 👤 Bela Louis Musits
- 👤 Howard A. Paul
- 👤 Russell Highsmith Taylor
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-23 04:23
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61F; A61F2/00; A61F2/02; A61F2/30; A61F2/46; A61B; A61B34/00; A61B34/20; A61B34/30; A61B34/70; B; B25; B25J; B25J9/00; B25J9/16; B25J9/1679; G; G05; G05B; G05B19/00; G05B19/02; G05B19/18; G05B19/4097; G05B19/4099; A61B17/00; A61B17/16; A61B17/17; A61B17/1739; A61B17/1742; A61B17/175; A61B34/10; A61B2034/101; A61B2034/102; A61B2034/105; A61B2034/2046; A61B2034/2055; A61B2034/2072; A61B34/25; A61B2034/256; A61B90/00; A61B90/06; A61B2090/064; A61B2090/065; A61B90/36; A61B90/37; A61B2090/376; A61B2090/3762; A61F2002/4632; A61F2002/4633; G05B2219/00; G05B2219/30; G05B2219/35; G05B2219/35217; G05B2219/39; G05B2219/39008; G05B2219/40; G05B2219/40418; G05B2219/40609; G05B2219/45; G05B2219/45123; G05B2219/45166; G05B2219/45168; G05B2219/49; G05B2219/49137; G16; G16H; G16H50/00; G16H50/20; G16H50/50; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S128/00; Y10S128/92; Y10S623/00; Y10S623/902; Y10S623/908; Y10S706/00; Y10S706/902; Y10S706/924
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 34
Claim 1
Independent Claim
103 words
A robotic surgical system comprising: multiple degree of freedom manipulator arm means including a surgical tool, the manipulator arm means being coupled to means for controllably positioning the surgical tool within a three dimensional coordinate system; and means for determining a position of the surgical tool in the three dimensional coordinate system relative to a volumetric model, the determining means including means for detecting a position of the surgical tool within the three dimensional coordinate system, the detecting means having an output coupled to means for processing the volumetric model for determining the position of the surgical tool relative to the volumetric model.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
39 words
A system as set forth in Claim 1 wherein the volumetric model is located within a surgical patient and wherein the system further comprises means for detecting a motion of the patient relative to the three dimensional coordinate system.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
33 words
A system as set forth in Claim 2 wherein the detecting means is comprised of strain gage means coupled between the surgical patient and a reference point within the three dimensional coordinate system.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
29 words
A system as set forth in Claim 3 wherein the reference point is located upon means for immobilizing a portion of the patient that includes the volume of space.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
24 words
A system as set forth in Claim 1 and further comprising means for measuring a magnitude of a force applied to the surgical tool.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
28 words
A system as set forth in Claim 5 wherein the measuring means includes means for resolving at a tip of the surgical tool an applied force and torque.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
28 words
A system as set forth in Claim 1 and further comprising means for determining a coordinate transformation for locating the volumetric model within the three dimensional coordinate system.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
33 words
A system as set forth in Claim 1 wherein the volumetric model corresponds to a prosthetic implant, the volumetric model additionally corresponding to a surgical tool approach volume relative to the prosthetic implant.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
17 words
A system as set forth in Claim 1 wherein the surgical tool is a cylindrical rotatable cutter.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
23 words
A system as set forth in Claim 1 wherein the volumetric model is represented as a constructive solid geometry (CSG) tree data structure.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
35 words
A system as set forth in Claim 1 wherein the detecting means is comprised of imaging means disposed for imaging a region of space that includes at least a portion of the manipulator arm means.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
53 words
A system as set forth in Claim 11 wherein the volumetric model is represented as a constructive solid geometry (CSG) tree data structure and wherein the imaging means has an output coupled to means for processing the CSG tree data structure for determining if the surgical tool is positioned within the volumetric model.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
39 words
A system as set forth in Claim 5 and further comprising means, coupled to the force measuring means, for determining through a force compliance technique a location of at least one reference point within the three dimensional coordinate system.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
44 words
A system as set forth in Claim 1 and further comprising means for displaying the position of the surgical tool relative to the volumetric model, the displaying means including means for superimposing computed tomagraphy (CT) information with corresponding cross-sectional images of the volumetric model.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
53 words
A system as set forth in Claim 5 and further comprising means, coupled to the force measuring means, for halting a further motion of the surgical tool if a force exceeding a first threshold is measured and for de-energizing the manipulator arm means if a force exceeding a second, higher threshold is measured.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
165 words
Apparatus for preparing a cavity within a bone to receive a prosthetic implant, comprising: multiple degree of freedom manipulator arm means including a rotating surgical tool, the manipulator arm means being coupled to means for controllably positioning the surgical tool within a three dimensional robot coordinate system; means for immobilizing the bone within the three dimensional robot coordinate system; means for determining the position of the surgical tool in the three dimensional robot coordinate system relative to a volumetric model representative of a cavity to be formed within the bone, the determining means including imaging means disposed for imaging a region of space that includes at least a portion of the manipulator arm means for determining if the surgical tool is positioned outside of the volumetric model; and means coupled between the bone and the immobilizing means and having an output for indicating an amount of movement, if any, between the bone and the immobilizing means, the indicating means measuring the movement in three dimensions.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
73 words
Apparatus as set forth in Claim 16 wherein the volumetric model is represented as a constructive solid geometry (CSG) tree data structure, and wherein the determining means includes means for processing the CSG tree data structure for determining if the surgical tool is positioned outside of the volumetric model and for suspending a further movement of the surgical tool if the surgical tool is determined to be positioned outside of the volumetric model.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
44 words
Apparatus as set forth in Claim 16 and further comprising means for measuring a magnitude of a force applied to the surgical tool and means for suspending a further movement of the surgical tool if the force is found to exceed a predetermined magnitude.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
54 words
Apparatus as set forth in Claim 16 wherein the movement indicating means is comprised of strain gage means, the apparatus further comprising means coupled to the output of the strain gage means for suspending a further movement of the surgical tool if the strain gage means detects a movement that exceeds a predetermined amount.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
82 words
Apparatus as set forth in Claim 16 wherein the bone has a plurality of reference pins affixed thereto for defining points of a bone coordinate system, wherein a surgeon manually guides the surgical tool to at least a first one of the reference pins, and wherein the apparatus further comprises means for determining a transformation between the bone coordinate system and the three dimensional robot coordinate system, the transformation determining means having an input coupled to an output of the imaging means.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
34 words
Apparatus as set forth in Claim 20 wherein the transformation determining means further determines a transformation between the three dimensional robot coordinate system and a three dimensional coordinate system associated with the imaging means.
Claim 22
Independent Claim
168 words
A method of surgically removing a quantity of tissue from a patient, the tissue being removed from a region having a predetermined three dimensional shape, the method comprising the steps of: representing the three dimensional shape as a volumetric model or as a portion of a volumetric model; determining a location of the volumetric model relative to the tissue that is to be removed; and operating a multiple degree of freedom manipulator arm means having a surgical tool coupled thereto such that the tissue is removed, the step of operating including the steps of: detecting a position of the manipulator arm means; determining a position of the surgical tool relative to the position of the manipulator arm means in accordance with a predetermined transformation function; processing the volumetric model for determining if the determined position of the surgical tool is outside of the volumetric model; and suspending a further movement of the surgical tool if the surgical tool is determined to be positioned outside of the volumetric model.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
50 words
A method as set forth in Claim 22 wherein the step of operating includes an additional step of monitoring an output of a strain gage means to determine if a movement of the patient has occurred and suspending a further movement of the surgical tool if a movement is detected.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
51 words
A method as set forth in Claim 22 wherein the step of operating includes an additional step of monitoring an output of a force measuring means coupled to the surgical tool and suspending a further movement of the surgical tool if a force is measured that exceeds a first predetermined threshold.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
35 words
A method as set forth in Claim 24 wherein the step of monitoring includes an additional step of de-energizing the manipulator arm means if a force is measured that exceeds a second, higher predetermined threshold.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
48 words
A method as set forth in Claim 22 wherein the step of operating includes an additional step of periodically monitoring an operational status of the manipulator arm means and suspending a further movement of the surgical tool if the operational status is determined to be less than optimum.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
103 words
A method as set forth in Claim 22 wherein the tissue includes bone tissue, wherein the volumetric model has a shape representative of a shape of a prosthetic implant, and wherein the step of representing the three dimensional shape as a volumetric model includes a step of: selecting a shape of a prosthetic implant from a library of prosthetic implant shapes; and wherein the step of determining a location of the volumetric model relative to the tissue that is to be removed includes a step of: interactively determining a position of the selected prosthetic implant shape relative to images of the bone tissue.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
45 words
A method as set forth in Claim 27 and including an additional step of storing data for use during the step of processing, the stored data being expressive of the dimensions and shape of the selected prosthetic implant and data expressive of the determined position.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
68 words
A method as set forth in Claim 27 wherein the step of operating further includes a step of displaying in succession cross-sectional images of the bone tissue each having a corresponding cross-sectional view of the selected prosthetic implant superimposed thereon, a specific one of the cross-sectional bone tissue images being selected for display as a function of the position of the surgical tool relative to the volumetric model.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
108 words
A method as set forth in Claim 22 wherein the tissue includes bone tissue, wherein the volumetric model has a shape representative of a shape of a prosthetic implant, and wherein the step of representing the three dimensional shape as a volumetric model includes a step of: defining a shape of a prosthetic implant as a function at least of the shape of the bone tissue; and wherein the step of determining a location of the volumetric model relative to the tissue that is to be removed includes a step of: interactively determining a position of the defined prosthetic implant shape relative to images of the bone tissue.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
79 words
A surgical planning system, comprising: means for providing cross-sectional images of a region of tissue into which a structure is to be implanted; means for specifying a three dimensional representation of the structure; and means, responsive to input from an operator of the system, for superimposing cross-sectional images of the representation of the structure upon selected cross-sectional images of the region of tissue at user-selectable locations, the superimposing means including means for displaying the superimposed images to the user.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
37 words
A system as set forth in Claim 31 wherein the specifying means includes means for generating a volumetric model of the structure and means for providing coordinates for locating the volumetric model within a tissue-based coordinate system.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
33 words
A system as set forth in Claim 32 wherein the specifying means further includes means for identifying reference points within the images of the region of tissue for deriving the tissue-based coordinate system.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
112 words
A system as set forth in Claim 32 and further comprising means for providing data expressive of at least the volumetric model and the tissue-based coordinates to a robotic surgical system, the robotic surgical system comprising: multiple degree of freedom manipulator arm means including a surgical tool, the manipulator arm means being coupled to means for controllably positioning the surgical tool within a three dimensional surgical coordinate system; and means for determining a position of the surgical tool in the three dimensional surgical coordinate system relative to the volumetric model, the determining means including means for transforming the tissue-based coordinate system into the surgical coordinate system for locating the volumetric model therein.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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