The system and method includes a manipulator for manipulating a surgical instrument relative to a patient's body and, a position sensor for sensing the position of the surgical instrument relative to the patient's body. The manipulator can be manually or computer actuated and can have brakes to limit movement. In a preferred embodiment, orthogonal only motion between members of the manipulator is provided. The position sensor includes beacons connected to the patient and manipulator or surgical instrument and, a three dimensional beacon sensor adapted to sense the location and position of the beacons. Redundant joint sensors on the manipulator may also be provided. The system and method uses a computer to actively interact with the surgeon and can use various different input and output devices and modes.
This is a divisional of application No. 09/306,558 filed May 6, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,695, which is a divisional of application No. 08/234,294 filed Apr. 28, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,950,629, which is a divisional of application No. 08/147,008 filed Nov. 2, 1993, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,976,156, which is a continuation of application No. 07/714,816 filed Jun. 13, 1991; abandoned.
A swivel arm includes a fixing device for an instrument and at least one pivot, such that the swivel arm can be moved. At least one sensor on at least one pivot detects the position and/or movement of the at least one pivot. A controllable, passive actuator for the at least one pivot can brake and/or prevent a movement of the pivot. A control device guides the controllable, passive actuator on the basis of the position data and/or movement data transmitted from the at least one sensor and based on data of the target object. The passive actuator can be guided in such a way that an instrument connected to the swivel arm can perform only one or a number of predetermined movements.
The invention refers to an apparatus for positioning medical treatment devices or treatment supporting devices (2) by a transportation means (1) to move said devices (2) to a predetermined position, said transportation means (1) including an automatically guided transport system (3, 7), and to a corresponding method and the use of an automatically guided transport system to perform said positioning tasks.
A ceiling mount assembly for moving and positioning of objects in a space has a ceiling mounting device, a rotary bearing part, a turning arm mounted on the rotary bearing part for vertical movements around a main axis near a vertical rotary axis of the rotary bearing part, a threaded spindle drive which is driven by an electric motor and providing the vertical movements of the turning arm about the main axis, and a load part at an end of the turning arm for carrying objects, and the electric motor being provided with a worm gear transmission and the electric motor, the worm gear transmission and the threaded spindle drive being stationarily connected with one another, the threaded spindle drive being arranged parallel to the vertical rotary axis of the rotary bearing part while the electric motor is arranged horizontally to the vertical rotary axis, a vertical drive for driving the turning arm about the main axis, formed by a threaded spindle nut and a cardan connection, and a telescopic arm connection provided between the cardan connection and an initial portion of the turning arm.
A miniature surgical robot and a method for using it are disclosed. The miniature surgical robot attaches directly with the bone of a patient. Two-dimensional X-ray images of the robot on the bone are registered with three-dimensional images of the bone. This locates the robot precisely on the bone of the patient. The robot is then directed to pre-operative determined positions based on a pre-operative plan by the surgeon. The robot then moves to the requested surgical site and aligns a sleeve through which the surgeon can insert a surgical tool.
Surgical robots and other telepresence systems have enhanced grip actuation for manipulating tissues and objects with small sizes. A master/slave system is used in which an error signal or gain is artificially altered when grip members are near a closed configuration.
