Dexterous wrists for surgical intervention

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9687303-B2
Application number	US-201314391659-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 19, 2013
Priority date	Apr 20, 2012
Publication date	Jun 27, 2017
Grant date	Jun 27, 2017

Abstract

A rotatable wrist connecting a gripper tool to the distal end of a continuum robot shaft. The rotatable wrist includes a wrist hub that is non-rotatably connected to the distal end of the shaft. A wrist capstan is rotatably connected to the wrist hub and non-rotatably connected to the gripper. A flexible wire loop extends through the wrist hub and partially contacts the wrist capstan. Linear movement of the flexible wire loop through the shaft of the continuum robot causes rotation of the wrist capstan due to friction between the flexible wire loop and the wrist capstan. The wrist also supports selective detachability and control of roll, pitch and roll, pitch yaw and roll according to different embodiments.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A continuum robot comprising:
a plurality of adjustable segments along a shaft of the continuum robot;
a gripper selectively connectable to a distal end of the shaft;
a rotatable wrist connecting the gripper to the distal end of the shaft, the rotatable wrist including
a wrist hub, the wrist hub being non-rotatably connected to the distal end of the shaft,
a wrist capstan rotatably connected to the wrist hub and non-rotatably connected to the gripper, and
a flexible wire loop extending through the wrist hub and partially contacting the wrist capstan, wherein linear movement of the flexible wire loop through the shaft causes rotation of the wrist capstan due to friction between the flexible wire loop and the wrist capstan,

wherein the wrist hub includes a first groove and a second groove, wherein the first groove is positioned at an angle relative to the shaft of the continuum robot, and wherein a first end of the flexible wire loop is positioned within the first groove such that the first groove guides linear movement of the first end of the flexible loop.

2. The continuum robot of claim 1 , wherein the wrist capstan includes a grooved surface, and the flexible wire loop includes a spherical terminal that contacts the grooved surface of the wrist capstan.

3. The continuum robot of claim 1 , wherein the second groove is positioned at an angle relative to the shaft of the continuum robot, and wherein a second end of the flexible wire loop is positioned within the second groove such that the second groove guides the linear movement of the second end of the flexible loop.

4. The continuum robot of claim 3 , wherein a portion of the flexible wire loop extends from the first groove to the second groove and contacts the wrist capstan such that linear movement of the portion of the flexible wire loop that extends from the first groove to the second groove cause rotation of the wrist capstan.

5. The continuum robot of claim 1 , further comprising a pivot joint connecting the rotatable wrist to the shaft of the continuum robot, wherein the pivot joint controllably adjusts an angle of the gripper relative to the shaft of the continuum robot.

6. The continuum robot of claim 1 , further comprising a universal joint connecting the rotatable wrist to the shaft of the continuum robot, wherein the universal joint controllably adjusts yaw and pitch angles of the gripper relative to the shaft of the continuum robot and the wrist controls roll of the gripper.

7. The continuum robot of claim 1 , further comprising an actuation channel extending through a center of the wrist capstan, wherein actuation of the gripper is controlled by at least one wire extending through the actuation channel.

8. The continuum robot of claim 1 , further comprising a locking component for selectively attaching the rotatable wrist to the shaft of the continuum robot.

9. A rotatable wrist for placement and manipulation of an actuatable medical device, the rotatable wrist comprising:
a wrist hub, the wrist hub being non-rotatably coupled to a distal end of a positioning device, wherein the positioning device includes a continuum robot with a plurality of adjustable segments along a shaft of the continuum robot;
a wrist capstan rotatably connected to the wrist hub and non-rotatably connected to the actuatable medical device; and
a flexible wire loop extending through the wrist hub and partially contacting the wrist capstan, wherein linear movement of the flexible wire loop through the positioning device causes rotation of the wrist capstan due to friction between the flexible wire loop and the wrist capstan,
wherein the wrist hub includes a first groove and a second groove, wherein the first groove is positioned at an angle relative to the shaft of the continuum robot, and wherein a first end of the flexible wire loop is positioned within the first groove such that the first groove guides linear movement of the first end of the flexible loop.

10. The rotatable wrist of claim 9 , wherein the actuatable medical device includes a gripper.

11. The rotatable wrist of claim 9 , wherein the positioning device includes a positioning shaft for controlling a position of the actuatable medical device in a body cavity during minimally invasive surgical procedures.

12. The rotatable wrist of claim 9 , wherein the wrist capstan includes a grooved surface, and the flexible wire loop includes a spherical terminal that contacts the grooved surface of the wrist capstan.

13. The rotatable wrist of claim 9 , wherein the second groove is positioned at an angle relative to the shaft of the continuum robot, and wherein a second end of the flexible wire loop is positioned within the second groove such that the second groove guides the linear movement of the second end of the flexible loop.

14. The rotatable wrist of claim 13 , wherein a portion of the flexible wire loop extends from the first groove to the second groove and contacts the wrist capstan such that linear movement of the portion of the flexible wire loop that extends from the first groove to the second groove cause rotation of the wrist capstan.

15. The rotatable wrist of claim 9 , further comprising a pivot joint connecting the rotatable wrist to the positioning device, wherein the pivot joint controllably adjusts an angle of the actuatable medical device relative to the positioning device.

16. The rotatable wrist of claim 9 , further comprising a universal joint connecting the rotatable wrist to the positioning device, wherein the universal joint controllably adjusts yaw and pitch angles of the actuatable medical device relative to the positioning device and the wrist controls roll of the actuatable medical device.

17. The rotatable wrist of claim 9 , further comprising an actuation channel extending through a center of the wrist capstan, wherein actuation of the actuatable medical device is controlled by at least one wire extending through the actuation channel.

18. The rotatable wrist of claim 9 , further comprising a locking component for selectively attaching the rotatable wrist to the positioning device.

Assignees

• Univ Vanderbilt

Inventors

• Simaan Nabil
• Goldman Roger E
• Bajo Andrea

Classifications

• A61B2034/305

  Details of wrist mechanisms at distal ends of robotic arms · CPC title

• A61B34/71

  Manipulators operated by drive cable mechanisms · CPC title

• A61B34/30 Primary

  Surgical robots · CPC title

• A61B19/2203 Primary

  Human Necessities · mapped topic