KR100997194B1 - Remote operation robot system for indirectly providing tactile sensation and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A remote surgical operation robot system and a control method thereof are provided to simply sense the deformation of a device for an operation during a remote endoscopic operation process by using an endoscopy image. CONSTITUTION: A remote surgical operation robot system comprises a master robot(1) and a slave robot(2). The slave robot executes a surgical operation by the remote control of the master robot. The master robot comprises a deformation perception part(690). The deformation perception part includes a displacement calculation part(650) and a power calculation part(660). The displacement calculation part calculates the displacement due to the real deformation of a device. The power calculation part determines power corresponding to the displacement based on a modeling which uses the characteristic information of the shaft of the device.

Description

Remote Operation Robot System for Indirectly Providing Tactile Sensation and Control Method

The present invention relates to a remote surgical robot system and a control method thereof, in particular, the deformation of the surgical instrument mounted on the robot arm in contact with the human tissue during endoscopic surgery using a laparoscope, based on the endoscope image The present invention relates to a remote surgical robot system and a control method thereof, which can assist a surgeon to easily perform a surgery with a feeling similar to that of a manual surgery by simply sensing and allowing the force to be felt by a means for operating the robot arm. .

BACKGROUND Many surgical procedures have been performed to treat a disease by cutting, slitting, or otherwise manipulating the affected area such as inflammation of the skin, mucous membranes, or other human tissues using a medical machine. In particular, open surgery that incise the skin of the surgical site such as the affected area, open it, and treat, shape, or remove the organs inside it can minimize these side effects in recent years due to problems such as bleeding, side effects, patient pain, and scars. Laparoscopic surgery is expanding its application.

Laparoscopic surgery refers to an operation that proceeds while observing the body with an endoscope or the like by inserting a surgical tool while minimizing an open area. For this purpose, various surgical members (scissors, tongs, clips, etc.) are mounted on the end of the instrument inserted into the human body. Hand-held surgical instruments, which can be inserted into the body and allow a manual operation of a doctor outside the body, are widely used.

On the other hand, furthermore, surgery using a robot is also gaining popularity as an alternative. In general, such a surgical robot is a master robot that generates and transmits a signal required by a doctor's operation, and receives a signal from the master robot and directly receives a patient. It consists of a slave (slave) robot to apply the necessary operation to the operation, it can be configured by integrating the master robot and the slave robot, or by configuring each of the separate devices arranged in the operating room.

For example, in performing endoscopic surgery using a laparoscope using a robot, the surgeon relies on an image received through an endoscope, such as a laparoscope, to perform a lesion by bringing the distal end of the instrument closer to the surgical site. During the movement of the instrument within the instrument is in contact with the human tissue and does not hurt the human tissue with excessive force, whether or not depending on the surgeon's visual judgment only proceeds to the operation.

Recently, in order to solve this problem, there is an attempt to determine the state of an instrument by mounting a strain gauge on the instrument to detect the deformation of the instrument. However, since instruments are precision surgical tools that can be inserted through a minimal open area, there are many manufacturing difficulties to equip the instrument with a strain gage and with means to output information about its deformation to the outside. Rather, it becomes a factor which raises manufacturing cost.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, an object of the present invention, in the manual surgery to deliver the force of the surgical instrument in contact with the human tissue in the human body at the time of endoscopic surgery using a laparoscope in the manual surgery It is to provide a remote surgical robot system and a control method thereof that can assist to perform the operation easily with a similar feeling.

In addition, another object of the present invention, a remote surgical robot system that can easily detect the deformation, such as bending caused when the surgical instrument is in contact with human tissue during remote endoscopy using a laparoscope and the control based on the endoscope image and its control To provide a way.

In addition, another object of the present invention, by considering the characteristics of the material, length, thickness, etc. of the instrument to determine the deformation force generated in the instrument to change the feeling of the surgical procedure required by the surgeon according to the type of surgery or the operating environment It is to provide a remote surgical robot system that can be delivered without a control method.

Surgical robot control method according to an aspect of the present invention for realizing the above object, during the operation by inserting the instrument into the human body, calculates the displacement for the deformation of the instrument, based on the displacement It is characterized by determining the force received in the human body.

According to the determined force, a reaction force can be applied to the driving force for the movement of the operating means of the instrument. The driving force used for the movement of the operation means may include a rotational force, hydraulic pressure, or air pressure of the motor.

The force may be determined by calculating a displacement for deformation of the instrument based on the image acquired by the endoscope.

Actual position of the distal end calculated from an image of the position information of the distal end of the instrument predicted using an operation signal generated by the manipulation processing means according to the operation of the instrument operating means and an image of the actual position of the distal end acquired by an endoscope The displacement can be calculated for the deformation by comparing the information.

The displacement of the instrument before and after deformation may be calculated by comparing the image of the instrument before deformation with the force and the image of the instrument after deformation.

Information on the determined magnitude of force may be displayed through means for displaying an endoscope image.

The shaft of the instrument is made of a material that maintains a certain elastic force and can be restored to the original straight state by removing the force causing the deformation, the shaft of the instrument is the base material of the housing side and the base material of the distal end It may also contain materials with different degrees of deformation. The material having a different degree of deformation may be bent better at a corresponding portion than the base material, and the material having a different degree of deformation may be formed a plurality of times at regular intervals between the base materials.

The shaft may have a predetermined shape of a marker formed at the distal end portion, and the displacement may be calculated using the marker in an image acquired by an endoscope.

The strain-assisted auxiliary pattern includes a straight line or a dotted line on the shaft of the instrument, and the displacement may be calculated using the strain-sensitive auxiliary pattern in an image obtained by an endoscope.

The force corresponding to the displacement may be determined based on modeling using characteristic information including the material, length, and thickness of the shaft of the instrument.

The force is determined by referring to a table value that has a database of forces for respective displacements of the deformation of the shaft of the instrument. The table values may be separately databased according to the material, length, or thickness of the shaft of the instrument.

It is also applied to determining the force for the deformation of the instrument when one of the plurality of instruments performs a relative pulling or pushing operation with another instrument while inserting a plurality of instruments into the human body and undergoing surgery. can do.

In addition, the surgical robot control method according to another aspect of the present invention, during the operation by inserting the instrument into the human body, predicts the position of the distal end of the instrument corresponding to the operation of the instrument's operation means and from the endoscope image By calculating the actual position of the distal end is characterized in that for determining the force received in the human body for the deformation of the instrument.

In addition, according to another aspect of the present invention, the deformation force recognition device for controlling the surgical robot may be implemented as a separate device, the deformation force recognition device, while inserting the instrument in the human body during the operation Displacement calculation means for calculating a displacement with respect to the deformation of the instrument; And force determining means for determining the force that the instrument receives in the human body based on the displacement.

The force determining means may apply a reaction force to the driving force for the movement of the operating means of the instrument in accordance with the determined force.

The displacement calculation means is calculated from the position information of the distal end portion of the instrument predicted using the operation signal generated by the manipulation processing means in accordance with the operation of the instrument's operation means and an image of the actual position of the distal end portion obtained by the endoscope. The displacement for the deformation can be calculated by comparing the actual positional information of one distal end.

The force determining means may determine a force corresponding to the displacement based on modeling using characteristic information including material, length, and thickness of the shaft of the instrument.

The force determining means may determine the force for the displacement by referring to a table value in which the magnitude of the displacement-specific force for the deformation of the shaft of the instrument is stored in a database stored in the storage means.

Further, according to another aspect of the invention, in the surgical robot system comprising a slave robot including an instrument mounted to the robot arm and a master robot for controlling the slave robot, the master robot, the instrument is a human body And a deformation force recognizing means for inserting in and calculating a displacement for deformation of the instrument during the procedure and determining the force the instrument receives in the human body based on the displacement.

Further, according to another aspect of the invention, in the surgical robot system comprising a slave robot including an instrument mounted to the robot arm and a master robot for controlling the slave robot, the master robot, the instrument is a human body During insertion and surgery, the force received in the human body for deformation of the instrument by predicting the position of the distal end of the instrument corresponding to the manipulation of the instrument's manipulation means and calculating the actual position of the distal end from the endoscope image. Deformation force recognition means for determining the.

The deformation force recognition means may include displacement calculation means for calculating displacement based on an image analysis of actual deformation of the instrument; And force determining means for determining a force corresponding to the displacement based on modeling using characteristic information including material, length, and thickness of the shaft of the instrument.

The master robot includes storage means for storing a table value of the database of the force for each displacement corresponding to the deformation of the shaft of the instrument, the deformation force recognition means, the image of the actual deformation of the instrument Displacement calculation means for calculating a displacement based on the analysis; And force determining means for determining the force with reference to the table value stored in the storage means with respect to the displacement.

In addition, according to another aspect of the invention, the surgical instrument is mounted to the robot arm via a housing, the surgical instrument comprising an effector at the end of the shaft, the shaft is made of a material that maintains a certain elastic force causing deformation Removing the force is characterized in that to restore the original straight state. A material for maintaining the elastic force is used to determine the force received in the human body based on the image analysis of the displacement for the deformation.

The shaft may include a material having a different degree of deformation between the base material on the housing side and the base material on the distal end side, and the material having a different degree of deformation may be bent at a portion better than the base material. Materials having different degrees of deformation may be formed a plurality of times at regular intervals between base materials.

The shaft has a certain shape of a marker formed at the distal end, and the marker may be used to measure the displacement with respect to the deformation in the image obtained by the endoscope.

The shaft has a deformation detecting auxiliary pattern including a straight line or a dotted line, and the deformation detecting auxiliary pattern may be used to measure the displacement with respect to the deformation in an image obtained by an endoscope.

The instrument may include deformation force recognizing means for measuring a displacement of the shaft against deformation of the shaft and determining a force received in the human body based on the displacement while the surgery is performed in the human body.

While the instrument is inserted into the human body and undergoes surgery, the instrument predicts the position of the distal end of the instrument corresponding to the manipulation of the instrument's manipulation means, and calculates the actual position of the distal end from the endoscope image, thereby deforming the instrument. It may include a deformation force recognition means for determining the force received in the human body.

The deformation force recognition means may include displacement calculation means for calculating a displacement with respect to the deformation of the instrument; And force determining means for determining a force received by the instrument in the human body based on the displacement.

The force determining means may determine the force corresponding to the displacement based on the modeling using the characteristic information including the material, length and thickness of the shaft of the instrument.

The instrument further comprises storage means for storing a table value, the database value of the force for each displacement of the deformation of the shaft of the instrument, the table value stored in the storage means to determine the force Can be. The storage means may be a database of the table value separately according to the material, length, or thickness of the shaft of the instrument.

According to the remote surgical robot system according to the present invention and a control method thereof, when the endoscopic surgery using a laparoscope, etc., the surgical instrument transmits the force of contact with the human tissue in the human body to the surgeon, thereby making it easy to feel similar to manual surgery. To perform the surgery.

In addition, according to the remote surgical robot system according to the present invention and a control method thereof, it is possible to simply detect the deformation, such as bending caused when the surgical instrument is in contact with human tissue during remote endoscopy using a laparoscope, based on the endoscope image have.

In addition, according to the remote surgical robot system and the control method according to the present invention, in consideration of the characteristics of the material, length, thickness, etc. of the instrument to determine the deformation force generated in the instrument to determine the feeling of the surgical procedure required by the surgeon It can be delivered unchanged depending on the type or surgical environment.

In order to fully understand the present invention, the operational advantages of the present invention, and the objects achieved by the practice of the present invention, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention and the contents described in the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a perspective view for explaining a remote surgical robot system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to Figure 1, the remote surgical robot system according to an embodiment of the present invention is a slave robot (2) performing the operation to the patient lying on the operating table under the remote control of the master robot (1) and the master robot (1) It includes. The master robot 1 and the slave robot 2 are not necessarily separated into separate devices that are physically independent, but may be integrated into one unit and may be integrated into one unit. In this case, the master interface 4 included in the slave robot 2 may be included. ) May correspond to the interface portion of the robot system integrated with the master robot 1.

The master robot 1 controls the operating means 10 and the overall control of the slave robot 2 in the form of a handle for manipulating the surgical procedure 6 or the robot arms 8, 9 of the slave robot 2. And a master interface 4 provided with a control device (see FIG. 6), and the slave robot 2 includes an instrument or a laparoscope robot arm 9 mounted on the surgical robot arm 8. It includes an endoscope, such as a mounted laparoscope.

The master robot 1 and the slave robot 2 may be connected by a dedicated line, or may communicate with each other through a wired communication network or a wireless communication network to transmit and receive an operation signal, an image obtained through an endoscope such as a laparoscope, and the like.

The monitoring means 6 of the master robot 1 displays an image obtained from an endoscope, such as a laparoscope, as an image image. The monitoring means 6 may be composed of one or a plurality of display means, and the information necessary for the operation may be individually displayed on each display means. For example, an indicator indicating a patient's condition, for example, biometric information such as body temperature, pulse rate, respiration, and blood pressure may be divided and output through regions. In order to provide such biometric information to the master robot 1, the slave robot 2 may include a body temperature measuring module, a pulse measuring module, a respiratory measuring module, a blood pressure measuring module, an electrocardiogram measuring module, and the like. The measured biometric information is transmitted from the slave robot 2 to the master robot 1 in the form of an analog signal or a digital signal, so that the master robot 1 can display the corresponding biometric information received through each display means.

The operation means 10 may be implemented in the form of a handle so that the operator can operate by holding each of the two hands, the operation signal is transmitted to the slave robot (2) as the operator operates the operation means 10, the robot arm ( 8, 9) can be controlled. For example, the processing means for controlling the movement of the manipulation means 10 may control the manipulation means 10 to move smoothly in a limited range using various driving forces such as rotational force, hydraulic pressure or air pressure of the motor, By generating an operation signal, the robot arms 8 and 9 can be made to perform the same movement at a constant rate according to the movement of the operation means 10. The rotational force of the motor, the hydraulic pressure or the pneumatic pressure can also be used for the movement of the robot arms 8 and 9, and can be moved smoothly in a limited range according to the operation signal. Accordingly, when the operator manipulates the operation means 10, the position movement, rotation, cutting operation, etc. of the instruments mounted on the robot arms 8, 9 can be performed. The operation means 10 may be composed of a plurality of handles such as a main handle and a sub handle, and in addition to the handle type, the robot arm of the slave robot 2 such as a joystick type, a keypad, a trackball, and a touch screen. (8,9) or other input means for operating other surgical equipment may be used instead.

The robot arms 8, 9 of the slave robot 2 can be implemented to be driven with multiple degrees of freedom. The robot arms 8 and 9 rotate, for example, an instrument 20 (see FIG. 2), which is a surgical instrument inserted into a patient's surgical site, and rotates the instrument 20 in the yaw direction according to the surgical position. A rocking drive unit to be rotated, a pitch driving unit to rotate the instrument 20 in a pitch direction orthogonal to the rotational drive of the rocking drive unit, a feed drive unit to move the instrument 20 in the longitudinal direction, and a rotation to rotate the instrument 20. It includes a drive unit, the distal end of the instrument 20 is provided with an effector (effector) that is a drive for grasping, cutting or cutting surgical lesions. However, the configuration of the robot arms 8 and 9 is not limited thereto, and it should be understood that this example does not limit the scope of the present invention. In addition, the actual control process such that the robot arm 3 rotates and moves in a corresponding direction by the operator operating the manipulation means 10 is somewhat distanced from the gist of the present invention, and thus detailed description thereof will be omitted. . In addition, one or more robot arms 8 and 9 may be used to operate the patient, and the laparoscopic robot arm 9 and the corresponding laparoscope for causing the surgical site to be displayed as an image image through the monitoring means 6. The dorsal endoscope may be implemented as an independent separate slave robot.

In addition, a description will be given of a surgical robot system using a laparoscope as an embodiment of the present invention, but is not limited thereto. Embodiments of the present invention are various surgical endoscopes other than the laparoscope, for example, thoracoscopic, arthroscopic, The same may be done universally with respect to surgery in which the parenteral, cystoscopy, rectal, duodenum, mediastinal, cardiac, etc. are used.

2 is a perspective view showing a slave robot 2 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the slave robot 2 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a coupling structure coupled to allow the instrument 20 to be mounted at the distal end of the surgical robot arm for a surgical operation.

3 is a perspective view showing the instrument 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the instrument 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a housing 30, an effector 38, and a shaft 40. Each instrument 20 is coupled in a coupling structure to minimize interference with other robot arms or instruments, for example, the housing 30 of the instrument 20 to a predetermined adapter coupled to the tip of the robot arm. The instrument 20 may be mounted to the front end of the robot arm by inserting it. The effector 38 is coupled to the distal end of the shaft 40 extending in one direction to the housing 30. In the remote surgery process, the shaft 40 is inserted into the surgical site, and the effector 38 performs various operations such as forceps, cutting, and incision necessary for the surgery near the surgical site under the control of the master robot 1.

The shaft 40 may perform a function of transmitting the driving force transmitted through the housing 30 to the effector 38, and for this purpose, the wire 50 received inside the shaft 40 in the form of a tube is applied to the effector 38. By transmitting the driving force necessary for each of the motion elements of the) it is possible for the effector 38 to perform the operation required for surgery. In particular, the shaft 40 is made of a material that maintains a certain elastic force can be restored to the original straight state by removing the force causing the deformation, according to the present invention to the displacement of the shaft 40 such deformation Based on this, we want to determine the force received in the body. Effector 38 is a component that is inserted into the surgical site to perform a forceps operation or a cutting operation, a pair of jaws are coupled around the hinge axis and each jaw and the hinge axis is made of a structure connected to the wire Can be.

4 is a photograph of a laparoscope (endoscopic) image according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, a procedure during operating the instrument 20 mounted on the slave robot 2 in close proximity to the surgical site by operating the manipulation means 10 of the master robot 1 or by using the instrument 20 for surgery. This may be displayed on the display means 6 according to an image obtained by an endoscope such as a laparoscope.

5 is a diagram showing the deformation in the shaft 40 of the instrument 20 according to one embodiment of the invention.

As shown in FIG. 5, while the operation 20 of the master robot 1 is operated to bring the instrument 20 mounted on the slave robot 2 close to the surgical site and undergo surgery, the distal end portion of the instrument 20 is operated. Effector 38 may cause deformation of the shaft 40 of the instrument 20 in the process of lifting the human tissue, such as bone, muscle, various organs. 5 illustrates an example of lifting an organ using the instrument 20, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the instrument 20, that is, the shaft 40 may be deformed even in a process of pressing or pulling the organ using the instrument 20. Can cause. Doctors who are experienced in manual surgery may be able to insert the instrument 20 into the human body while positioning it while moving, or when the distal effector 38 contacts the human tissue or uses the effector 38 to press, pull or lift the organ. Surgery could be easily performed while feeling the touch, but in order to allow the surgeon to indirectly feel such a sense of position, force, and touch even during surgery using a remote robot such as the present invention, the shaft 40 of the instrument 20 Deformation, for example, the degree of bending or the displacement of the angle (θ) and the like to measure the force received by the instrument 20 in the human body based on this displacement can be informed to the surgeon. As shown in FIG. 15, the information about the determined magnitude of force may be displayed through a means for displaying an endoscope image by numbers or graphs, or the reaction force (or repulsive force) according to the manipulation means 10 of the instrument 20. This may be applied to make it felt by the operator. For example, according to the force determined corresponding to the deformation of the instrument 20, the reaction force is felt when the surgeon moves the operation means 10 by giving a reaction force to the rotational force of the motor used for the movement of the operation means 10. It may be indirectly felt, similar to performing a manual operation. When other driving force such as hydraulic pressure or pneumatic pressure is used for the movement of the manipulation means 10, the surgeon may feel it by applying a reaction force to the corresponding driving force of the manipulation means 10 in a similar manner.

Thus inserting the instrument 20, that is, the shaft 40 with the distal end effector 38 into the human body to provide a feeling that the operating means 10 is subjected to a force in accordance with the deformation of the shaft 40 during surgery. To this end, the configuration and operation of a device for implementing the same in various ways will be described below. As will be described below, by measuring and calculating the displacement, such as the degree of bending deformation or the angle of the instrument 20 during the movement of the instrument 20 during the operation by a simple image analysis method, the force to feel the operating means 10 Means and methods can be embodied in various forms.

6 is a block diagram illustrating a remote surgery robot system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, the remote surgical robot system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a master robot 1 and a slave robot 2. The slave robot 2 includes an instrument 20 mounted on the surgical robot arm 8 and an endoscope 21 such as a laparoscope mounted on the laparoscopic robot arm 9. The master robot 1 includes a master interface 4, a display means 6 such as an LCD, and an arm operating unit 10. The master interface 4 includes a control unit 610, a memory 611, and an image input unit 620. ), A screen display unit 630, a manipulation processing unit 640 and the deformation force recognition means 690. The deformation force recognition means 690 includes a displacement calculator 650 and a force determiner 660.

The instrument 20 is mounted on the surgical robot arm 8 of the slave robot 2 as shown in FIG. 1, and the endoscope 21 such as a laparoscope is mounted on the laparoscopic robot arm 9 of the slave robot 2. . The display means 6 such as an LCD displays a corresponding image based on an image acquired by the endoscope 21 such as a laparoscope as a means for monitoring a surgical procedure, and the arm operation unit 10 is a slave robot in the form of a handle. Means for allowing the operator to manipulate the position and function of the robot arms 8 and 9 of (2), and the slave processing unit 640 generates a corresponding operation signal according to the operation of the arm operating unit 10, thereby causing the slave robot to operate. The movement of the instrument 20 mounted in the robot arms 8 and 9 of (2) can be controlled. The manipulation processing unit 640 may control the arm manipulation unit 10 to move smoothly in a limited range by using various driving forces such as a rotational force, hydraulic pressure, or pneumatic pressure of the motor, and the generation of a corresponding manipulation signal of the manipulation processing unit 640 is slaved. The instruments 20 mounted on the robot arms 8, 9 of the robot 2 can cause movement in the same direction at a constant rate. The rotational force of the motor, the hydraulic pressure or the pneumatic pressure can also be used for the movement of the robot arms 8 and 9, and can be moved smoothly in a limited range according to the operation signal.

The controller 610 is responsible for overall control of the memory 611, the image input unit 620, the screen display unit 630, the manipulation processor 640, and the deformation force recognition means 690 constituting the master interface 4 as described above. This corresponds to a processor, and may include a part of the components of the master interface 4 as described above to perform the corresponding function. The components of the master interface 4 as described above may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof.

The memory 611 stores a table value in which the magnitude of the force is databased for each displacement corresponding to the deformation of the instrument 20, that is, the bending degree or the bending angle of the shaft 40. Figure 7 shows an example of the magnitude of the displacement-specific force that is databased as described above. As will be described below, since the degree of force applied for the same displacement may vary depending on the material, length, or thickness of the instrument 20, that is, the shaft 40, the material, length, or the like of the shaft 40. In order to refer to the memory 611 in consideration of the thickness and the like, a table value (a magnitude of force for each displacement) may be separately stored in a database. Such a table value may be databased to a value similar to the actual force received based on the measurement of the degree of actual deformation of the elastic body 20, that is, the shaft 40.

The image input unit 620 receives image information acquired through a predetermined camera provided in the endoscope 21 of the slave robot 2, and the screen display unit 630 corresponds to the image signal based on the image signal from the image input unit 620. The image is processed to be displayed through the display means 6.

The displacement calculator 650 is a deformation after the instrument 20, that is, the shaft 40 is in contact with the human tissue during the operation by inserting the instrument 20, that is, the shaft 40 into the human body (for example, For example, deformation in the process of pressing, pulling, or lifting an organ can be measured. The displacement calculator 650 may measure the corresponding displacement with respect to the deformation of the instrument 20, that is, the shaft 40 by analyzing the image in various ways based on the image acquired by the endoscope 21.

The force determiner 660 may determine the force that the instrument 20 receives in the human body based on the displacement calculated by the displacement calculator 650. The force determiner 660 may determine the force for the corresponding displacement in real time based on modeling using characteristic information such as material, length, and thickness of the shaft 40 of the instrument 20. For example, if only the corresponding characteristic information and the displacement, which are variables of the modeling function f (material information such as material, length, thickness, and displacement) are determined, the force determining unit 660 may calculate the displacement-specific force according to the above modeling function. Can be.

In addition, the force determiner 660 extracts a table value for the magnitude of the force corresponding to the displacement measured by the displacement calculator 650 with reference to the table values databased in the memory 611 as shown in FIG. 7. In addition, the extracted force can be informed to the surgeon. In this case, the force determining unit 660 may extract the corresponding force by referring to an appropriate table value databased in the memory 611 according to the material, length, thickness, and the like of the shaft 40 of the instrument 20. As shown in FIG. 14, the information about the determined magnitude of force may be displayed through a means for displaying an endoscope image, or a corresponding reaction force may be applied to the arm manipulation unit 10.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method of determining the magnitude of the force for deformation of the instrument 20 as shown in FIG. 5.

Referring to FIG. 8, first, the surgeon inserts the instrument 20 into the human body and starts to operate the cancer manipulation unit 10 to approach the surgical site (S11). While inserting the instrument 20 into the human body by operating the arm manipulation unit 10 or during a surgical procedure using the instrument 20, the instrument 20 such as the effector 38 or the shaft 40, etc. When the component of the contact with the human tissue, as shown in Figure 5 the shaft 40 can be bent by the force (S12). For example, the shaft 40 may be bent as much as the force is applied in the process of pressing, pulling, or lifting an organ using the effector 38 of the instrument 20.

At this time, the displacement calculator 650 begins to analyze the image of the deformation of the instrument 20, that is, the shaft 40 (S13). Basically, according to the operation of the arm operating unit 10, the operation processing unit 640 generates the corresponding operation signals, for example, movement information such as up, down, left and right, front and rear, and the robot arms 8 and 9 of the slave robot 2. Since the movement of the instrument 20 mounted on the () is controlled, the displacement calculation unit 650 uses the operation signal from the manipulation processing unit 640, that is, the positional information (that is, the position information of the effector 38) of the instrument 20. For example, the horizontal and vertical positions in the endoscope image) can be predicted, and the displacement calculator 650 may also display an image after deformation of the shaft 40, that is, an actual position of the distal end portion of the instrument 20. Received through the image input unit 620 may calculate the actual position information (eg, horizontal and vertical position in the endoscope image) of the end of the instrument 20, that is, the effector 38. Accordingly, the displacement calculator 650 may calculate displacements such as the degree or angle of bending the shaft 40 by comparing the position information predicted from the manipulation signal with the actual position information calculated from the image of the actual position. (S14).

The shaft 40 is made of a material that maintains a certain elastic force, so if the force causing the deformation (contact with the human tissue, etc.) can be removed, the shaft 40 can be restored to its original straight state. The straightness of the end side before the shaft 40 is deformed and the degree of bending of the shaft 40 after the end side of the shaft 40 is bent and deformed can be calculated. When the force is received by the end of the shaft 40 or other human tissues, the end of the shaft 40 loses the straightness, and the degree of bending, that is, the displacement is changed according to the magnitude of the force. Here, the displacement is an angle between the direction pointed by the end when the shaft 40 is straight and the direction pointed by the end when the shaft 40 is deformed, or the point indicated by the end point when the shaft 40 is straight and the end point when the shaft 40 is deformed as shown in FIG. 5. The distance between the points can be calculated.

In order to more easily understand the degree of such deformation, as shown in FIG. 9, deformation in the middle portion (between the base material on the housing side and the base material on the distal end side) of the shaft 40 (outer shape of the shaft) than the base material is shown. It is also possible to have a material 91 of different degrees. The base material may be a rigid material that is not easily deformed, and the other material 91 may be a flexible material so that it bends better than the base material so that the deformation amount of the shaft 40 increases in the portion. have. In this case, the flexible portion 91 may be formed at a plurality of positions at regular intervals between the base materials in various applications to suit the surgical purpose, and the length or elastic force may be selected and manufactured to suit the corresponding purpose.

In addition, in order to allow the displacement calculator 650 to measure the displacement after deformation compared to the deformation of the instrument 20, that is, the shaft 40, the distal end of the instrument 20, as shown in FIG. For example, a marker 92 may be placed at the end of the shaft 40. A plurality of markers 92 may be formed along the circumference. When the displacement calculator 650 receives an image of the actual position of the distal end of the instrument 20 through the image input unit 620, the image of the endoscope 21 received through the image input unit 620 is around the surgical site. The image quality may be deteriorated according to the long-term environment of the camera or the resolution of the camera mounted on the endoscope 21, so that the displacement calculator 650 may analyze the image received through the image input unit 620, that is, the shaft 40. It is possible to cause an error in the straightness judgment or the deformation judgment. Therefore, when the marker 92 of a certain shape such as a circle, a square, or a star is formed in a vivid color such as black or blue at the end of the shaft 40, the displacement calculation unit 650 may be used for the marker 92. By calculating the position, the actual position information can be calculated more accurately. Accordingly, the displacement calculator 650 compares the position information predicted from the manipulation signal with the actual position information calculated from the image of the actual position of the marker 92, and the displacement of the shaft 40 such as the degree or angle of bending the shaft 40. It can be calculated (S14).

In addition, as shown in FIG. 11, the deformation detecting auxiliary pattern 93, such as a plurality of straight lines, may be formed in the longitudinal direction of the shaft 40 to assist the displacement calculation of the displacement calculator 650. Here, an example in which a straight line is formed in the longitudinal direction of the shaft 40 is illustrated. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and various deformation detecting auxiliary patterns 93 may be formed and used to assist image analysis with a more distinct image such as a dotted line. have. For example, the displacement calculator 650 may calculate the degree of bending of the deformation detecting auxiliary pattern 93 such as a straight line or a dotted line to calculate a displacement after deformation compared to a straight line before deformation of the shaft 40. It may be (S14).

Alternatively, the displacement calculator 650 may compare the image before deformation of the shaft 40 and the human body through the image input unit 620 to compare the image before and after the deformation of the instrument 20, that is, the shaft 40. After receiving the force by the tissue, the image after the deformation of the shaft 40 can be received, and by capturing and comparing the images necessary for such an analysis, the instrument 20, that is, the shaft 40 contacts and bends the human tissue. It is also possible to calculate by measuring the displacement, such as the degree of loss or angle (S14). For example, the displacement calculator 650 may be an image of the instrument 20 before being deformed under the force of the human tissue, that is, the shaft 40, and the image of the instrument 20 after the deformation, that is, the shaft 40. The images may be compared to each other to calculate the corresponding displacement in which the shaft 40 is deformed, for example, the changed distance of the end of the shaft 40 before and after deformation or the angle of the changed direction of the shaft 40 end before and after deformation.

On the other hand, if the displacement calculation unit 650 calculates the displacement with respect to the deformation of the shaft 40, the force determining unit 660 according to the characteristics, such as the material, length, thickness, etc. of the shaft 40 of the instrument 20 Based on the information, the force for the displacement can be determined in real time. For example, using a predetermined modeling function that takes information on characteristics such as material, length and thickness of the shaft 40 and displacement as variables, for example, f (characteristic information such as material, length, thickness, and displacement). The force determining unit 660 may calculate a force corresponding to the displacement in real time.

As another example, as shown in FIG. 7, a table value for the magnitude of the force having the closest or most similar error to the above displacement calculation result is referenced by referring to a table value having a database of the magnitude of the force for each displacement stored in the memory 611 as shown in FIG. 7. By extracting the instrument 20 may determine the force received in the human body (S15). In this case, the force determining unit 660 may extract the corresponding force by referring to an appropriate table value databased in the memory 611 according to the material, length, thickness, and the like of the shaft 40 of the instrument 20.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 14, information about the determined magnitude of force may be displayed through a means for displaying an endoscope image, or a corresponding reaction force may be applied to the arm manipulation unit 10.

For example, as described above, when the force received by the instrument 20 in the human body is determined, the determined force may be transmitted to the manipulation processing unit 640, and the manipulation processing unit 640 may perform the movement of the arm manipulation unit 10. Reaction force may be applied to generate less driving force such as rotational force, hydraulic pressure, or air pressure of the motor than before the shaft 40 is deformed. Such a reaction force may be proportional to the force determined by the force determining unit 660, and thus, the surgeon may feel and feel the operation of the arm operating unit 10 when there is no deformation of the instrument 20. When there is a deformation, it can be recognized that the feeling at the time of manipulation of the arm operation part 10 is different. The surgeon can recognize the deformation of the instrument 20 by feeling a reaction force in the operation of the cancer operation unit 10, and proceed with surgery while being careful not to cause injury due to contact of the surgical site or other human tissues. .

In addition, as shown in FIG. 12, two or more instruments 20 may be inserted into the human body and applied to the same during the surgery to determine the above force. For example, when one or more of the inserted instruments is pulled to the left or right for a seam knot or when a relative pull (or push) operation with another instrument is performed, such as when holding an organ with two instruments, The unit 650 may measure the displacement with respect to the deformation of the instrument, and accordingly, the force determining unit 660 refers to the table value databased in the memory 611 based on the measured displacement, so that the instrument is a human body. You can determine the strength within you. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 14, the information on the magnitude of the force may be displayed on the corresponding instruments by means of displaying the endoscope image, and may give a reaction force to the corresponding manipulation means of the arm manipulation unit 10.

Above, the instrument 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention is made of a material that maintains a certain elastic force causes the deformation (contact with human tissue, long-term pressing, pulling, pressing, pulling / pushing with other instruments, etc.) It has been described that the shaft 40 is made of a material that can be restored to the original straight state by removing the force. The shaft 40 is made of a material that maintains the elastic force, it is inserted into the human body to be able to calculate the degree of deformation caused by the force received in the human body during the operation proceeds by the displacement calculation unit 650 by image analysis Therefore, the force determining unit 660 was to determine the force received by the instrument 20 in the human body with respect to the displacement.

In addition, as shown in Figure 9, the instrument 20, in order to more easily determine the degree of deformation of the shaft 40, the middle portion of the shaft 40 (base shaft material of the housing side and the base shaft material of the distal end side) The flexible portion 91, which bends better than the base material, may be placed at an appropriate position one or more times. In addition, as shown in FIG. 10, the displacement calculator 650 may include the instrument 20, that is, the shaft ( In order to be able to better measure the corresponding displacement with respect to the deformation of 40, a marker 92 may be placed at the distal end of the instrument 20, for example at the end of the shaft 40.

In addition, as shown in Figure 11, the shaft 40 of the instrument 20 may be formed with a variety of deformation detection auxiliary pattern 91, such as a plurality of straight lines or dotted lines in the longitudinal direction, which is the displacement calculation unit 650 ) Can assist in calculating displacement. The distortion detection auxiliary pattern may be a thick solid line or a dotted line such as black or blue so that the distortion detection auxiliary pattern may be easily seen even when the image quality is deteriorated. It can be selected and produced in the colors that make it visible. That is, the displacement calculator 650 deteriorates the image quality of the image by performing the straightness determination or the deformation determination on the deformation detecting auxiliary pattern formed on the shaft 40 in the endoscope 21 image received through the image input unit 620. Errors in the displacement calculation of the displacement calculator 650 may be reduced due to a problem such as the above.

As shown in FIG. 13, the deformation force recognition means 690 described with reference to FIG. 6 may be mounted at an appropriate position such as the housing 30. In this case, the strain force recognition means 690 may be removed or stopped in FIG. 6, and a necessary signal may be transmitted to the strain force recognition means 690 mounted on the instrument 20 through the control unit 610 of the master interface 4. The necessary signal may be received from the strain recognizing means 690 to the controller 610. That is, the deformation force recognition means 690 may include a displacement calculator 650 and a force determiner 660 as shown in FIG. 6.

Accordingly, the displacement calculation unit 650 of the deformation force recognition means 690 mounted to the instrument 20 during the operation by inserting the instrument 20, that is, the shaft 40 into the human body, is S14 of FIG. 8. In a similar manner to the step, the displacement of the shaft 40 after contact with the human tissue can be measured, and the force determining unit 660 of the deformation force recognition means 690 mounted to the instrument 20 is shown in FIG. In a similar manner to the step S15 can determine the force received in the human body based on the displacement.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 13, it is also applied to surgery using a plurality of instruments, so that the displacement calculation unit 650 of the deformation force recognition means 690 mounted to the instrument 20 has a relative pulling (or pushing) operation with other instruments. The displacement with respect to the deformation of the shaft 40 of the city can be measured, and the force determining unit 660 of the deformation force recognition means 690 mounted to the instrument 20 determines the force received in the human body based on the displacement. Can be. Here, the force determining unit 660 reflects the length, material, thickness, and the like of the shaft 40 of the instrument 20 and refers to the force corresponding to the displacement measured by the displacement calculator 650 with reference to the memory 611. You can also decide. In addition, if necessary, the memory 611 of FIG. 6 may be mounted inside the instrument 20 so as to be connected to the deformation force recognition means 690 so that the force determiner 660 may refer to the determination of the force. As such, some functions of the memory 611 and the deformation force recognition means 690, and in some cases, the controller 610, which are mounted in the instrument 20, may be implemented in the form of an IC chip or an RFID tag capable of short-range communication. May be

As described above, some functions of the control unit 610 for operating the memory 611, the deformation force recognition means 690, and the deformation force recognition means 690 may be mounted and operated in the master robot 1 as shown in FIG. 6. It may be mounted on the housing 30 of the instrument 20 as shown in FIG. 13, and in some cases, may be independently configured to be mounted and operated on another device such as the robot arm 8 of the slave robot 2. It may be.

As described above, optimal embodiments have been disclosed in the drawings and the specification. Although specific terms have been used herein, they are used only for the purpose of describing the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention as defined in the claims or the claims. Therefore, those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible from this. Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention will be defined by the technical spirit of the appended claims.

1 is a perspective view for explaining a remote surgical robot system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a perspective view showing a slave robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a perspective view showing an instrument according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a photograph of an endoscope image according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a view showing the deformation in the shaft of the instrument according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a block diagram illustrating a remote surgery robot system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a view for explaining the magnitude of the force database by the displacement of the instrument according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for describing a method of determining a magnitude of force for deformation of an instrument as shown in FIG. 5.

9 is a view for explaining the structure of the instrument according to another embodiment of the present invention.

10 is a view for explaining the structure of the instrument according to another embodiment of the present invention.

11 is a view for explaining the structure of the instrument according to another embodiment of the present invention.

12 is a view for explaining an example of the surgical procedure for the wound binding operation.

13 is a view for explaining the structure of the instrument according to another embodiment of the present invention.

14 is an example of a display screen displaying information on the magnitude of the force applied to the instrument.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

1: master robot

2: slave robot

3: robot arm

6: master interface

10: cancer control unit

20: Instrument

38: effector

40: shaft

Claims (40)

In the surgical robot control method, During the operation by inserting the instrument into the human body, Calculate displacements for deformation of the instrument, Determine the force the instrument receives within the human body based on the displacement, Surgical robot control method, characterized in that for determining the force by calculating the displacement for the deformation of the instrument based on the image obtained by the endoscope. In the surgical robot control method, During the operation by inserting the instrument into the human body, Calculate displacements for deformation of the instrument, Determine the force the instrument receives within the human body based on the displacement, Actual position of the distal end calculated from an image of the position information of the distal end of the instrument predicted using an operation signal generated by the manipulation processing means according to the operation of the instrument operating means and an image of the actual position of the distal end acquired by an endoscope And comparing the information to calculate the displacement with respect to the deformation. In the surgical robot control method, During the operation by inserting the instrument into the human body, Calculate displacements for deformation of the instrument, Determine the force the instrument receives within the human body based on the displacement, And comparing the image of the instrument before the deformation with the force and the image of the instrument after the deformation to calculate the displacement with respect to the distal end of the instrument before and after deformation. In the surgical robot control method, During the operation by inserting the instrument into the human body, Calculate displacements for deformation of the instrument, Determine the force the instrument receives within the human body based on the displacement, Surgical robot control method characterized in that to display the information on the determined magnitude of the force through the means that the endoscope image is displayed. In the surgical robot control method, During the operation by inserting the instrument into the human body, Calculate displacements for deformation of the instrument, Determine the force the instrument receives within the human body based on the displacement, The shaft of the instrument has a marker of a predetermined shape formed at the distal end, surgical robot control method, characterized in that for calculating the displacement using the marker in the image obtained by the endoscope. In the surgical robot control method, During the operation by inserting the instrument into the human body, Calculate displacements for deformation of the instrument, Determine the force the instrument receives within the human body based on the displacement, Surgical robot control method characterized in that it has a deformation detecting auxiliary pattern including a straight line or a dotted line on the shaft of the instrument, the displacement is calculated using the deformation detecting auxiliary pattern in the image obtained by the endoscope. In the surgical robot control method, During the operation by inserting the instrument into the human body, Calculate displacements for deformation of the instrument, Determine the force the instrument receives within the human body based on the displacement, And a force corresponding to the displacement based on modeling using characteristic information including material, length, and thickness of the shaft of the instrument. In the surgical robot control method, During the operation by inserting the instrument into the human body, Calculate displacements for deformation of the instrument, Determine the force the instrument receives within the human body based on the displacement, And determining the force with reference to a table value having a database of force values for respective displacements of the deformation of the shaft of the instrument. The method of claim 8, Surgical robot control method characterized in that the table values are separately databased according to the material, length, or thickness of the shaft of the instrument. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, According to the determined force, the surgical robot control method, characterized in that for applying a reaction force to the driving force for the movement of the operating means of the instrument. The surgical robot control method according to claim 10, wherein the driving force used for the movement of the operation means includes a rotational force, hydraulic pressure, or air pressure of a motor. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, Surgical robot control method characterized in that the shaft of the instrument is made of a material that maintains a certain elastic force and is restored to its original straight state by removing the force causing the deformation. The method of claim 12, And the shaft of the instrument includes a material having a different degree of deformation between the base material of the housing side and the base material of the distal end side. The method of claim 13, Surgical robot control method characterized in that the material of different deformation degree is bent better in the corresponding portion than the base material. The method of claim 13, Surgical robot control method characterized in that the material having a different degree of deformation is formed a plurality of times at regular intervals between the base material. delete The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, During the surgery by inserting a plurality of instruments into the human body, And determining the force for the deformation of the instrument when any one of the plurality of instruments makes a relative pull or push operation with another instrument. In the surgical robot control method, During the operation by inserting an instrument into the human body, the position of the distal end of the instrument corresponding to the operation of the instrument's manipulation means is predicted, and the actual position of the distal end is calculated from an endoscope image to calculate the position of the distal end in the human body. Surgical robot control method, characterized in that for determining the force received. In the deformation force recognition device for controlling the surgical robot, Displacement calculation means for inserting an instrument into the human body to calculate displacement for deformation of the instrument during surgery; And Force determining means for determining a force received by the instrument in the human body based on the displacement; The displacement calculation means is calculated from the position information of the distal end portion of the instrument predicted using the operation signal generated by the manipulation processing means in accordance with the operation of the instrument's operation means and an image of the actual position of the distal end portion obtained by the endoscope. Deformation force recognition device for controlling the surgical robot, characterized in that for calculating the displacement for the deformation by comparing the actual position information of the one end. In the deformation force recognition device for controlling the surgical robot, Displacement calculation means for inserting an instrument into the human body to calculate displacement for deformation of the instrument during surgery; And Force determining means for determining a force received by the instrument in the human body based on the displacement; And the force determining means determines the force corresponding to the displacement based on modeling using the characteristic information including the material, length, and thickness of the shaft of the instrument. In the deformation force recognition device for controlling the surgical robot, Displacement calculation means for inserting an instrument into the human body to calculate displacement for deformation of the instrument during surgery; And Force determining means for determining a force received by the instrument in the human body based on the displacement; And the force determining means determines the force for the displacement with reference to a table value in which the magnitude of the displacement-specific force for the deformation of the shaft of the instrument is stored in a database in a storage means. Strain recognition device for robot control. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 21, And the force determining means applies a reaction force to a driving force for the movement of the operating means of the instrument according to the determined force. In the surgical robot system comprising a slave robot including an instrument mounted to the robot arm and a master robot for controlling the slave robot, The master robot includes deformation force recognition means for inserting the instrument into the human body to calculate a displacement for deformation of the instrument during the operation, and determine the force the instrument receives in the human body based on the displacement. and, The deformation force recognition means, Displacement calculation means for calculating a displacement based on an image analysis of actual deformation of the instrument; And And force determining means for determining a force corresponding to the displacement based on modeling using characteristic information including material, length, and thickness of the shaft of the instrument. In the surgical robot system comprising a slave robot including an instrument mounted to the robot arm and a master robot for controlling the slave robot, The master robot includes: deformation force recognition means for inserting the instrument into a human body to calculate a displacement for deformation of the instrument during an operation, and determining a force that the instrument receives in the human body based on the displacement; And storage means for storing a table value database of the magnitude of force for each displacement of the deformation of the shaft of the instrument, The deformation force recognition means, Displacement calculation means for calculating a displacement based on an image analysis of actual deformation of the instrument; And And force determining means for determining the force with reference to the table value stored in the storage means with respect to the displacement. In the surgical robot system comprising a slave robot including an instrument mounted to the robot arm and a master robot for controlling the slave robot, The master robot, During the operation by inserting the instrument into the human body, the position of the distal end of the instrument corresponding to the manipulation of the operating means of the instrument is predicted, and the actual position of the distal end is calculated from an endoscope image to calculate the human body with respect to the deformation of the instrument. And a deformation force recognition means for determining a force received therein. The method of claim 25, The deformation force recognition means, Displacement calculation means for calculating a displacement based on an image analysis of actual deformation of the instrument; And And force determining means for determining a force corresponding to the displacement based on modeling using characteristic information including material, length, and thickness of the shaft of the instrument. The method of claim 25, The master robot, Storage means for storing a table value database of the magnitude of the force for each displacement of the deformation of the shaft of the instrument, The deformation force recognition means, Displacement calculation means for calculating a displacement based on an image analysis of actual deformation of the instrument; And And force determining means for determining the force with reference to the table value stored in the storage means with respect to the displacement. In a surgical instrument mounted to the robot arm through the housing, the surgical instrument comprising an effector at the end of the shaft, The shaft is made of a material that maintains a constant elastic force is restored to the original straight state when removing the force causing the deformation, An instrument, characterized in that for using the material is maintained the elastic force to determine the force received in the human body based on the image analysis of the displacement for the deformation. In a surgical instrument mounted to the robot arm through the housing, the surgical instrument comprising an effector at the end of the shaft, The shaft is made of a material that maintains a constant elastic force is restored to the original straight state when removing the force causing the deformation, The shaft has a certain shape of the marker formed on the distal end, the instrument characterized in that the marker is used to measure the displacement for the deformation in the image obtained by the endoscope. In a surgical instrument mounted to the robot arm through the housing, the surgical instrument comprising an effector at the end of the shaft, The shaft is made of a material that maintains a constant elastic force is restored to the original straight state when removing the force causing the deformation, The shaft has a deformation detecting auxiliary pattern including a straight line or a dotted line, the deformation detection auxiliary pattern in the image obtained by the endoscope, characterized in that for measuring the displacement of the deformation. In a surgical instrument mounted to the robot arm through the housing, the surgical instrument comprising an effector at the end of the shaft, The shaft is made of a material that maintains a constant elastic force is restored to the original straight state when removing the force causing the deformation, And a deformation force recognizing means for measuring a displacement against deformation of the shaft and determining a force received in the human body based on the displacement during insertion and operation in the human body. In a surgical instrument mounted to the robot arm through the housing, the surgical instrument comprising an effector at the end of the shaft, The shaft is made of a material that maintains a constant elastic force is restored to the original straight state when removing the force causing the deformation, During insertion and operation in the human body, the position of the distal end of the instrument corresponding to the operation of the instrument's manipulation means is predicted, and the actual position of the distal end is calculated from the endoscope image to receive the internal deformation of the instrument. An instrument comprising strain force recognition means for determining a force. 33. The method of claim 32, The deformation force recognition means, Displacement calculation means for calculating a displacement with respect to the deformation of the instrument; And And force determining means for determining the force the instrument receives in the human body based on the displacement. 34. The method of claim 33, And the force determining means determines the force corresponding to the displacement based on the modeling using the characteristic information including the material, the length and the thickness of the shaft of the instrument. 34. The method of claim 33, Storage means for storing a table value database of the magnitude of the force for each displacement of the deformation of the shaft of the instrument, The force determining means determines the force with reference to the table value stored in the storage means. 36. The method of claim 35 wherein The storage means, The table value is separately databased according to the material, length, or thickness of the shaft of the instrument. 33. The method according to any one of claims 28 to 32, And the shaft comprises a material having a different degree of deformation between the base material on the housing side and the base material on the distal end side. The method of claim 37, The material having a different degree of deformation may be better bent in a corresponding portion than the base material.  38. The instrument of claim 37, wherein the material having a different degree of deformation is formed a plurality of times at regular intervals between the base materials. delete

Images