Instrument interface

[0001] This patent document is a continuation-in-part and claims the priority of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/286,644, filed Sep. 30, 2008 and also claims benefit of the earlier filing date of U.S. Provisional Pat. App. No. 61/485,702, filed May 13, 2011.

[0002] Robotically controlled systems such as employed for minimally invasive medical procedures can include large and complex equipment to precisely control and drive relatively small tools or instruments. (As used herein, the terms “robot” or “robotically” and the like include teleoperation or telerobotic aspects.) FIG. 1A illustrates an example of a known robotically controlled system 100. System 100, which may, for example, be part of a da Vinci® Surgical System available from Intuitive Surgical, Inc., includes a patient-side cart 110 having multiple arms 130. Each arm 130 has a docking port 140 that generally includes a drive system with a mechanical interface for mounting and providing mechanical power for operation of an instrument 150. Arms 130 can be used during a medical procedure to move and position respective medical instruments 150 for the procedure.

[0003] FIG. 1B shows a bottom view of a known instrument 150. Instrument 150 generally includes a transmission or backend mechanism 152, a main tube 154 extending from the backend mechanism 152, and a functional tip 156 at the distal end of the main tube 154. Tip 156 generally includes a medical tool such as a scalpel, scissors, forceps, or a cauterizing instrument that can be used during a medical procedure. Drive cables or tendons 155 connect to tip 156 and extend through main tube 154 to backend mechanism 152. Backend mechanism 152 typically provides a mechanical coupling between the drive tendons of the instrument 150 and motorized axes of the mechanical interface of a drive system 140. In particular, gears or disks 153 having features such as projections or holes that are positioned, sized, and shaped to engage complementary features on the mechanical interface of a drive system 140. In a typical instrument, rotation of disks 153 pulls on respective tendons 155 and actuates corresponding mechanical links in tip 156. System 100 can thus control movement and tension in drive tendons 155 as needed to position, orient, and operate tip 156. Further details of known surgical systems are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 7,048,745 to Tierney et al., entitled “Surgical Robotic Tools, Data Architecture, and Use,” which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

[0004] Instruments 150 of system 100 can be interchanged by removing one instrument 150 from a drive system 140 and then installing another instrument 150 in place of the instrument removed. The installation process in general requires that the features on disks 153 properly engage complementary features of the drive system 140. However, before installation, the orientations of disks 153 on instrument 150 are generally unknown to patient-side cart 110. Further, equipment such patient-side cart 110 is often covered for a medical procedure by a sterile barrier because of the difficulty in cleaning and sterilizing complex equipment between medical procedures. These sterile barriers can include a sterile adaptor (not shown) that is interposed between docking port 140 and instrument backend 152. For example, above referenced U.S. Pat. No. 7,048,745 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,699,855 to Anderson et al., entitled “Sterile Surgical Adaptor”, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, describe some exemplary sterile barrier and adaptor systems.

[0005] A typical installation process for an instrument 150 involves mounting backend mechanism 152 without regard for the orientations of disks 153 on a drive system 140, possibly with an intervening sterile adaptor. The drive motors in drive system 140 may be then be rotated back and forth multiple times during the installation procedure to ensure that the complementary features mesh with and securely engage each other for operation of the newly installed instrument 150. At some point during the installation process, the drive motors become securely engaged to rotate respective disks 153. However, the instrument 150 being installed may move in an unpredictable manner at times during the installation procedure because the drive motors positively engage respective disks 153 of instrument 150 at different and unpredictable times. Such unpredictable motion is unacceptable when an instrument is inserted in a patient. In general, clear space is required around an instrument 150 to accommodate random movements of the instrument tip during an installation procedure.

[0006] In accordance with an aspect of the invention, a mechanical interface for a robotic medical instrument permits engagement of the instrument and a drive system without causing movement of the tip of the instrument. Accordingly, an instrument can be engaged with the drive system in a patient-side cart after the instrument is manually posed in a desired configuration or even after the instrument has been inserted for a medical procedure. This permits manual insertion of an instrument followed by robotic control of the instrument.

[0007] In one embodiment, an instrument interface includes a symmetrical, tapered or cylindrical projection on one of a medical instrument and a drive system (potentially including a sterile barrier) and a complementary bore in the other of the drive system or the instrument. With cylindrical projection and bore, the diameter of the bore can contract, for example, using the tension in a tendon wrapped around the mechanical element containing the bore, to reduce the diameter of the bore and provide the instrument with frictional forces sufficient to transmit driving torque to the medical instrument. In any case, symmetry of the projection and the bore allows the projection to be compression fit into the bore regardless of the rotation angle of the drive system relative to the instrument.

[0008] In one specific embodiment of the invention, a system includes a medical instrument and a drive system. The medical instrument includes a rotatable element that when rotated actuates the medical instrument. The drive system has an interface configured to releasably engage the medical instrument, and a first feature of the rotatable element and a second feature of the interface are shaped to engage each other without inducing rotation that actuates the medical instrument.

[0009] Another embodiment of the invention is a medical instrument. The medical instrument includes an actuated structure and a mechanical element connected so that rotation of the mechanical element actuates the actuated structure. The mechanical element has an engagement feature shaped such that for any pose of the actuated structure, the engagement feature can engage a complementary engagement feature on a drive system without inducing rotation that actuates the actuated structure.

[0010] Yet another embodiment of the invention is a drive system for a medical instrument. The drive system includes a motor; and an interface coupled to the motor and configured to releasably engage the medical instrument so that rotation of the motor actuates the medical instrument. The interface includes an engagement feature shaped such that for any pose of the medical instrument, the engagement feature can engage a complementary engagement feature of the medical instrument without inducing rotation that actuates the medical instrument.

[0011] Still another embodiment of the invention is a method for engaging a medical instrument and a drive system. The method includes bringing a first feature on a rotatable element of the medical instrument into contact with a second feature on a drive element of the drive system without rotating either of the elements. An engagement force is then applied to create friction between the rotatable element and the drive element without rotating either of the elements. When thus engaged, the drive system can be operated to actuate the medical instrument, and the friction transfers torque that the drive system applies to the first rotatable element to the second rotatable element and thereby actuates the mechanical instrument.

[0021] Use of the same reference symbols in different figures indicates similar or identical items.

[0022] In accordance with an aspect of the invention, a medical instrument can be installed on and engaged with a drive system without actuating or otherwise moving the joints or tip of the instrument. Engagement without actuation can be implemented using symmetric mechanical elements that securely engage through compression or friction to maintain the relative orientation of a drive mechanism and the mechanical interface of the instrument. In one embodiment, a symmetric tapered shaft of a drive system or a backend mechanism fits into a symmetric tapered bore or slot in a mechanical element of the backend mechanism or drive system, and friction maintains the orientation of the shaft and the slotted mechanical element. In another specific embodiment, a symmetric shaft can be inserted into a mechanical element containing a bore that contracts in diameter to securely hold the relative orientation of the shaft and the mechanical element. For example, a shaft of a drive motor can fit into a bore within a capstan that is sufficiently flexible that tension in a tendon wrapped around the capstan causes the bore to collapse onto the shaft. The ability to install an instrument without actuating the instrument allows posing of the instrument in a desired configuration before the instrument is installed on a drive system and allows installation of an instrument after the instrument has been inserted into a cannula or even into a patient.

[0023] FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of the invention in which a medical instrument 200 has a backend mechanism 210 that mounts on a drive system 220 having one or more tapered drive shafts 230. Drive system 220 may be part of a docking port or a tool holder of a medical system such as the patient-side cart 110 of FIG. 1, which allows instrument 200 to be installed or removed for different medical procedures or during a medical procedure. Tapered shafts 230 can be the shafts of drive motors 240 of drive system 220 or can be separate elements that attach to the motor shafts and transmit motor rotation to backend mechanism 210 for movement of a jointed section of instrument 200, e.g., an instrument tip 156. In general, instrument tip 156 can be of any desired type but is illustrated in FIG. 2 as being on the distal end of a main shaft 154 through which tendons 155 extend and connect to tip 156. Backend mechanism 210 generally contains a transmission mechanism (not shown) that converts the rotation of motors 240 into movement of tendons 155 which operate the joints of instrument 200 including joints in tip 156.

[0024] Tapered shafts 230 can be simple, low cost, and robust mechanical elements that are precisely machined using conventional techniques to produce a tapered shape with a circular cross-section. Many types of tapers could be employed on tapered shafts 230. For example, Morse tapers with or without an end tang or guide could be used. Tapered shafts 230 are free to spin on their axis and are symmetric about their respective rotation axes, i.e., have circular cross-sections.

[0025] Each tapered shaft 220 is further shaped to fit into a complementary tapered hole 250 or slot in a mechanical element 260 of backend mechanism 210. Mechanical element 260 may be, for example, a hollowed-out spindle having a tapered hole 250 that matches the shape of the corresponding tapered shaft 230 and in particular has circular cross-sections matching those of tapered shafts 220. More generally, tapered holes 250 can be formed in any mechanical elements 260 of instrument backend 210 that are free to spin on their axis, where a mechanical transmission system of backend mechanism 210 converts the rotations of the slotted mechanical elements 260 into movements of tendons 155 and instrument tip 156. For example, FIG. 3 shows how a tapered shaft 230 of a motor 240 directly fits into a tapered hole or bore 250 in a capstan 260. In one specific embodiment, tapered holes 250 are formed in capstans that transmit the motion to tendons 155 as described in U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2010/0082041, entitled “Passive Preload and Capstan Drive for Surgical Instruments,” which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. More generally, a capstan is just one example of a mechanical element 260 that may be employed within backend mechanism 210 to convert motor rotation into tendon movement and instrument actuation.

[0026] FIG. 4 schematically illustrates how a sterile adaptor 400 in a sterile barrier can be interposed between a drive element 440 and a mechanical element 260 that is rotatable to actuate a medical instrument. In the illustrated configuration, sterile adaptor 400 includes an element 410 that is free to rotate in a circumferential bearing 420 that maintains a sterile barrier by means of a labyrinth seal that performs the desired medical function while allowing element 410 to rotate about an axis corresponding to the rotation axis of drive element 440 and rotatable element 260. Element 410 may be, for example, of a layer of a mechanically resistant plastic about 0.5 to 2 mm thick that is molded to be interposed between drive element 440 and a hole 250 in rotatable element 260. In particular, element 410 in FIG. 4 is shaped to receive drive element 440 on the manipulator side and to have a projection that fits into tapered hole 250 in rotatable element 260 that is part of the backend mechanism of a medical instrument. A sterile sheet 430 or other portions of the sterile barrier can be connected to bearing 420 to maintain surgical field sterility. FIG. 4 illustrates features of a sterile adaptor in a schematic fashion to illustrate general working principles relevant to the present invention, U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,048,745 and 7,699,855, which are incorporated by reference above, provide additional description of the features of some sterile adaptors for medical instruments.

[0027] FIG. 4 also shows an embodiment of the invention in which drive element 440 has a tapered shape that can engage barrier element 410 without rotation. Alternatively, drive element 440 could have a keyed or rough surface, and barrier element could be smooth but sufficiently compliant to be forced onto drive element 440. In yet another alternative embodiment, drive element 440 has a keyed engagement feature with projections or indentations that engage complementary features of barrier element 410. With keyed features on drive element 440 and the manipulator side of barrier element 410, rotation of drive element 440 or barrier element 410 may be necessary in order to align the keyed features when the sterile barrier is fitted to a manipulator. However, the sterile barrier can be fitted to the manipulator once for a medical procedure and is fitted before any medical instruments are engaged on the manipulator. Rotation of drive element 440, barrier element 410, or rotatable element 260 is not required when engaging an instrument on the drive system because the instrument side of barrier element 410 has a surface shaped to fit bore 250 without any rotation.

[0028] Instrument engagement using the system of FIG. 2 can be performed by slipping the holes 240 in instrument backend 210 onto tapered shafts 230 of docking port 220, with or without an interposed sterile adapter. A latch or other mechanism 270 can be used to provide an engagement force that presses backend mechanism 210 onto docking port 220 and drives tapered shafts 230 into tapered holes 250. The shapes of shafts 230 and holes 250 automatically accommodate some initial misalignment between instrument 200 and drive system 220 since the tapers guide shafts 230 and holes 250 into the desired relative positions. Additional misalignment between backend mechanism 210 and docking port 220 or relative misalignment or spacing variation of the drive axes of backend mechanism 210 or docking port 220 can be accommodated using flexible mountings for tapered shafts 230 or slotted elements 260 as described further below. When engaged and held in place, compression and the friction across the entire surface of each tapered shaft 230 contacting the matching inner surface of a corresponding hole 240 can provide a large amount of torque transmission, so that keys or gear teeth are not required to transfer torque or rotational movement from drive system 220 to backend mechanism 210. Further, no rotation of motors 240 or slotted mechanical elements 260 of backend mechanism 210 is required during the engagement procedure. Also, the instrument can be engaged while having any desired configuration of slotted elements 260 and any pose of tip 156, and instrument tip 156 does not move during engagement. The lack of tip movement makes the engagement process possible while tip 156 is inserted in a cannula or even at an operating site within a patient.

[0029] Control of medical instrument 200 after engagement of backend mechanism 210 and drive system 220 can be based on a measurement of the pose (e.g., the positions of joints) of medical instrument 210 and measurements of the rotation angles of each of motors 240. Alternatively, a control process using differences between measured and desired instrument pose or configuration could be employed. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/945,734, entitled, “Tension Control in Actuation of Multi-Joint Medical Instruments” and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/780,417, entitled “Drive Force Control in Medical Instrument Providing Position Measurements” describe exemplary systems for control of medical instruments and are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

[0030] FIG. 2 illustrates a system in which drive system 220 includes one or more tapered shafts 230 and instrument backend 210 includes complementary tapered holes 230. FIG. 5 illustrates a system in accordance with an alternative embodiment in which tapered shafts 530 extend from a backend mechanism 510 of a medical instrument 500 and are rotated to operate the transmission within backend mechanism 510 and actuate or move joints of instrument 500. In this configuration, motors 240 in a drive system 520 have shafts with fixtures 540 shaped to provide tapered holes 550 that are complementary to the shape of tapered shafts 530 or an interposed portion of a sterile adaptor. Other than the reversing of the positions of the tapered shafts and the tapered holes, backend mechanism 510 and instrument holder 520 of system 500 can be engaged and operated in the same manner as backend mechanism 210 and instrument holder 220 of system 200, which is described above with reference to FIG. 2. As described above, a docking system can attach medical instrument 500 to drive system 520 and apply an engagement force so that the friction between features 530 and 540 is sufficient to transmit the torque required for operation of medical instrument 500. The docking system could include, for example, a latch 270 and a spring preload 570.

[0031] In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a motor in a drive system can operate a mechanical element of a backend mechanism through a frictional engagement created by radial compression of a hole or bore in a mechanical element. FIG. 6, for example, illustrates a system 600 including a motor 240 having a cylindrical shaft 630 that fits within a cylindrical bore in a mechanical element 660 of a backend mechanism such as backend mechanism 210 of FIG. 2. Mechanical element 660 is a capstan, and a drive tendon 655, which may attach to an articulated joint of the instrument, is wound around capstan 660. Tendon 655 can be a cable, a wire, a filament, or similar structure that is able to wrap around capstan 660 and may be made of metal or a synthetic material. Capstan 660 is radially flexible so that the application of tension in tendon 655 causes the diameter of the bore in capstan 660 to decrease, thereby clamping capstan 660 onto shaft 630 with or without an intervening, substantially cylindrical plastic component of a sterile barrier (not shown). One more surface of the sterile barrier component, capstan 660, or shaft 630 may include splines, teeth, or other features to improve the traction and torque transmission capability of the engagement, provided that the other surface of the sterile adaptor can engage the contoured surface without rotation. However, meshing of the splines or teeth of two surfaces generally requires rotation of shaft 630 and capstan 660, which may be undesirable.

[0032] The process of engaging the instrument on a drive system including motor 240 may further begin with tendon 655 being sufficiently relaxed so that shaft 630 (with or without an interposed portion of a sterile barrier) can slide into the bore of mechanical element 660, without any rotation of mechanical element 660. Shaft 630 and the bore of mechanical element 660 can be symmetrical (e.g., have a circular cross-section) so that shaft 630 can be inserted into mechanical element 660 regardless of the relative orientation of shaft 630 and mechanical element 660. A mechanism within the backend mechanism can then increase or apply the pre-tension to tendon 655 to cause the wraps of tendon 655 to clamp flexible mechanical element 660 on shaft 630. For example, displacing a capstan in a proximal direction relative to the body of an instrument can increase the tension in both ends of a tendon extending from the capstan, causing opposing torques on a joint coupled to the ends of tendon 655. As a result, no joint movement occurs when the tension is increased. Alternatively, when only one end of tendon 655 attaches to an articulated joint, pre-tension in tendon 655 can be preset to permit insertion of shaft 630 (with at least one smooth, cylindrical interface between the capstan, sterile barrier, and input shaft) into capstan 660, so that capstan 660 couples more strongly to shaft 630 when driven in a direction that increases tension in tendon 655. Capstan 660 may then be permitted to slip relative to shaft 630 when driven in the reverse direction.

[0033] Motor shaft 630 and the bore of mechanical element 660 do not have tapering that accommodates misalignment in the same manner as embodiments of the invention using tapered shafts and holes. However, compliance can be provided in shaft 630 or capstan 660 to accommodate initial misalignment of motor 240 and capstan 660 during an engagement process. FIG. 7, for example, shows an embodiment of the invention in which a capstan 760 is loosely retained in a structure 770 of the backend mechanism in such a way that capstan 760 can move into alignment with shaft 530 and then be supported primarily by shaft 630 and the bearings of motor 240 when capstan 760 is engaged with motor 630. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 8, a capstan 860 may be supported by bearings 870 in the backend mechanism of an instrument but incorporate a flexure, e.g., a spring or helical structure, to allow movement for alignment of shaft 630 and capstan 860. The compliance of the mountings shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 can accommodate misalignment of a drive element in a drive system and a corresponding rotatable element in a medical instrument and accommodate differences in the spacing or orientation of multiple drive elements in a drive system relative to the corresponding rotatable elements in a medical instrument.

[0034] Although the invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments, the description is only an example of the invention's application and should not be taken as a limitation. Various adaptations and combinations of features of the embodiments disclosed are within the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.