Touchless control of surgical devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12171506-B2
Application number	US-202118003266-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 15, 2021
Priority date	Jul 17, 2020
Publication date	Dec 24, 2024
Grant date	Dec 24, 2024

Abstract

Touchless control of surgical devices. One example is a method of performing a surgical procedure, the method comprising: receiving, by a touchless-interface controller, a touchless command directly identifying an operational parameter of a target surgical controller of a plurality of surgical controllers used for performing the surgical procedure; generating, by the touchless-interface controller, a command value from the touchless command; and communicating, by the touchless-interface controller, a control command to the target surgical controller of the plurality of surgical controllers based on the command value.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of performing a surgical procedure, the method comprising:
receiving, by a touchless-interface controller, a touchless command directly identifying an operational parameter of a target surgical controller of a plurality of surgical controllers used for performing the surgical procedure, wherein the plurality of surgical controllers are (i) separate from the touchless-interface controller and (ii) configured to control respective devices in response to control commands received from the touchless-interface controller;
generating, by the touchless-interface controller, a command value from the touchless command, wherein the command value is selected, based on the touchless command, from a plurality of predetermined command values;
determining, by the touchless-interface controller and based on the command value, which of the plurality of surgical controllers is the target surgical controller; and
generating and communicating, by the touchless-interface controller, a control command to the target surgical controller of the plurality of surgical controllers as determined by the touchless-interface controller based on the command value, wherein the control command as generated by the touchless-interface controller is a command to change the identified operational parameter of the target surgical controller.

2. The method of claim 1 :
wherein receiving the touchless command further comprises receiving a natural-language command by way of a microphone communicatively coupled to the touchless-interface controller; and
wherein generating the command value further comprises generating the command value from a predefined list of command values using the natural-language command.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the natural-language command does not contain reference to movement between levels of a menu structure.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the generating the command value using the natural-language command further comprises generating the command value by the touchless-interface controller without the touchless-interface controller communicating the natural-language command to a remote computer system.

5. The method of claim 4 :
wherein receiving the touchless command further comprises receiving a gesture by way of a camera communicatively coupled to the touchless-interface controller; and
wherein generating the command value further comprises generating the command value based on matching the gesture to a predefined list of gestures.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein receiving the gesture further comprises receiving a hand gesture that identifies both the target surgical controller and direction of change of a parameter associated with the target surgical controller.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprises, prior to receiving the touchless command, receiving a wake command by the touchless-interface controller.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein receiving the wake command further comprises receiving a verbal command by way of a microphone communicatively coupled to the touchless-interface controller.

9. The method of claim 7 :
wherein receiving the touchless command further comprises receiving a natural-language command by way of a microphone communicatively coupled to the touchless-interface controller; and
wherein generating the command value further comprises generating the command value from a predefined list of command values using the natural-language command.

10. The method of claim 7 :
wherein receiving the touchless command further comprises receiving a gesture by way of a camera communicatively coupled to the touchless-interface controller; and
wherein generating the command value further comprises generating the command value based on matching the gesture to a predefined list of gestures.

11. The method of claim 7 wherein receiving the wake command further comprises detecting, by the touchless-interface controller, that a surgeon's gaze has dwelled on the target surgical controller or a depiction of the target surgical controller for a predetermined amount of time.

12. The method of claim 7 wherein receiving the wake command further comprises receiving a physical input being at least one selected from a group comprising: a foot switch; and camera head button press.

13. A surgical system comprising:
a first surgical controller communicatively coupled to a device network;
a second surgical controller communicatively coupled to the device network;
a touchless-input device; and
a touchless-interface controller communicatively coupled to the device network and the touchless-input device, wherein the first and second surgical controllers are (i) separate from the touchless-interface controller and (ii) configured to control respective devices in response to control commands received from the touchless-interface controller the touchless-interface controller configured to:
receive a touchless command directly identifying an operational parameter of a target surgical controller of the first and second surgical controllers;
generate a command value from the touchless command, wherein the command value is selected, based on the touchless command, from a plurality of predetermined command values;
determine, based on the command value, which of the first and second surgical controllers is the target surgical controller; and
generate and communicate, by way of the device network, a control command to the target surgical controller as determined by the touchless-interface controller based on the command value, wherein the control command as generated by the touchless-interface controller is a command to change the identified operational parameter of the target surgical controller.

14. The surgical system of claim 13 :
the touchless-input device further comprises a microphone;
wherein when the touchless-interface controller receives the touchless command, the touchless-interface controller is further configured to receive a natural-language command by way of the microphone; and
wherein when the touchless-interface controller generates the command value, the touchless-interface controller is further configured to generate the command value from a predefined list of command values using the natural-language command.

15. The surgical system of claim 14 wherein when the touchless-interface controller generates the command value using the natural-language command, the touchless-interface controller is further configured to generate the command value without the touchless-interface controller communicating the natural-language command to a remote computer system.

16. The surgical system of claim 14 wherein the natural-language command does not contain reference to movement between levels of a menu structure.

17. The surgical system of claim 13 :
the touchless-input device further comprises a camera;
wherein when the touchless-interface controller receives the touchless command, the touchless-interface controller is further configured to receive a gesture by way of the camera; and
wherein when the touchless-interface controller generates the command value, the touchless-interface controller is further configured to generate the command value based on matching the gesture to a predefined list of gestures.

18. The surgical system of claim 17 wherein when the touchless-interface controller receives the gesture, the touchless-interface controller is further configured to receive a hand gesture that identifies both the target surgical controller and direction of change of a parameter associated with the t

Assignees

• Smith & Nephew Inc
• Smith & Nephew Orthopaedics Ag
• Smith & Nephew Asia Pacific Pte Ltd

Inventors

• Mehta Dhairya
• Quist Brian William

Classifications

• G06F3/167 Primary

  Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback · CPC title

• G06F3/017

  Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures (interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883) · CPC title

• A61B2034/2055

  Optical tracking systems · CPC title

• A61B2017/00216

  with eye tracking or head position tracking control · CPC title

• A61B2017/00225

  Systems for controlling multiple different instruments, e.g. microsurgical systems · CPC title