Robotic surgery system including position sensors using fiber bragg gratings

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2015245881-A1
Application number	US-201514684569-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 13, 2015
Priority date	Dec 30, 2005
Publication date	Sep 3, 2015
Grant date	—

Abstract

A surgical instrument is provided, including: at least one articulatable arm having a distal end, a proximal end, and at least one joint region disposed between the distal and proximal ends; an optical fiber bend sensor provided in the at least one joint region of the at least one articulatable arm; a detection system coupled to the optical fiber bend sensor, said detection system comprising a light source and a light detector for detecting light reflected by or transmitted through the optical fiber bend sensor to determine a position of at least one joint region of the at least one articulatable arm based on the detected light reflected by or transmitted through the optical fiber bend sensor; and a control system comprising a servo controller for effectuating movement of the arm.

First claim

1 - 59 . (canceled)

60 . An method comprising:
determining a shape of a surgical instrument based on a reflectance spectrum from a first optical fiber sensor of an optical fiber; and passing illuminating light through the optical fiber and beyond a distal end of the optical fiber, the illuminating light being sufficient to illuminate a site at which the surgical instrument is used.

61 . The method of claim 60 , further comprising:
determining a temperature based on a reflectance spectrum from a second optical fiber sensor in the optical fiber.

62 . The method of claim 61 , wherein the determining a temperature further comprises:
determining the temperature in a rigid fixed position region in an elongate arm of the surgical instrument.

63 . The method of 61 , wherein the determining a temperature further comprises:
looking up a temperature in a pre-calculated look-up table corresponding to a detected signal from the second optical fiber sensor in the optical fiber.

64 . The method of claim 60 , wherein the determining a shape further comprises:
determining a shift in a wavelength of light due to strain on the first optical fiber sensor from movement of a joint in an elongate arm of the surgical instrument.

65 . The method of claim 64 , wherein the first optical fiber sensor is included in a plurality of optical fiber sensors positioned in the joint.

66 . The method of claim 65 further comprising:
determining a temperature at the joint using the plurality of optical fiber sensors.

67 . A method comprising:
interrogating an optical fiber sensor in an optical fiber positioned in a surgical instrument to determine a shape of the surgical instrument, a temperature of the surgical instrument, or an axial force on the surgical instrument; and passing illuminating light through the optical fiber and beyond a distal end of the optical fiber, the illuminating light being sufficient to illuminate a site at which the surgical instrument is used.

68 . An apparatus comprising:
a surgical instrument; an optical fiber positioned in an axial direction along the surgical instrument, wherein the optical fiber comprises an optical fiber sensor; an interrogator configured to interrogate the optical fiber sensor to determine a shape of the surgical instrument, a temperature of the surgical instrument, or an axial force on the surgical instrument; and an illuminator configured to pass illuminating light into a proximal end of the optical fiber, through the optical fiber, and beyond a distal end of the optical fiber, the illuminating light being sufficient to illuminate a site at which the surgical instrument is used.

Assignees

• Intuitive Surgical Operations

Inventors

• Larkin David Q
• Shafer David C

Classifications

• Y10S901/28

  Joint · CPC title

• Y10S901/47

  Optical · CPC title

• A61B19/5244 Primary

  Human Necessities · mapped topic

• A61B19/5202

  Human Necessities · mapped topic

• A61B19/2203

  Human Necessities · mapped topic