CN116650122A - Instrument Guide Arm System - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure provides an instrument guide arm system suitable for use with a single hole surgical robot, comprising: a support portion having an interior formed with a receiving chamber defined by a front end plate, a rear end plate, and a side wall connected between the front end plate and the rear end plate; a guide portion mounted on the front end plate of the support portion, adapted to be bent to a target position in the body of the subject; a surgical assembly passing through the receiving chamber from the rear end plate of the support portion and protruding forward from the guide portion; and a rigidity changing mechanism configured to change rigidity of the guide portion, hold the actuator of the surgical assembly at a target position, and make the surgical assembly perform a surgical operation in a predetermined posture.

Description

Instrument guide arm system

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of surgical robots, and more particularly to an instrument guide arm system for a single hole surgical robot.

Background

Compared with the porous minimally invasive surgery, the single-hole endoscope minimally invasive surgery has the advantages of fewer scars, quicker recovery and the like, and the mode of realizing the single-hole endoscope minimally invasive surgery is also increasing. In the field of thoracic surgery, single-hole surgical robots require the placement of instrument guide arms between the intercostals of the body being operated upon, through which surgical instruments enter the thoracic cavity to perform the procedure. When performing the mammary artery operation, the operating doctor is required to adjust the pose of the slave operating arm and the operating instrument for a plurality of times, so as to ensure that the operating space for operating the operating part can be completely covered by the operating instrument and the endoscope, thereby ensuring the integrity of the operation. After the posture adjustment is completed, the slave hand operation arm is locked to provide a stable support platform for the surgical instrument and the endoscope.

In this case, it is difficult for the conventional guide arm for guiding the surgical instrument to provide a proper pose for the intrathoracic surgical instrument and the endoscope. Under the condition that the guide arm is configured to be bendable, the surgical instrument and the endoscope can be caused to deviate due to contact with a surgical site in the surgical operation process, so that the surgical instrument and the endoscope can not be kept in proper positions in an operation space, an operator can not perform surgical operation under the optimal surgical position and the optimal visual angle, and the surgical efficiency of the operator is further affected.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to solve at least one of the technical problems in the prior art, the present disclosure provides an instrument guide arm system for a single-hole surgical robot, which can maintain an actuator of a surgical assembly at a target position after a guide portion is bent to the target position in a surgical object body by providing a stiffness varying mechanism in the guide portion, so that the surgical assembly performs a surgical operation in a predetermined posture.

As one aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, an instrument guide arm system for a single hole surgical robot is provided that includes a support portion, a guide portion, a surgical assembly, and a variable stiffness mechanism. The support part is internally provided with a containing chamber defined by a front end plate, a rear end plate and a side wall connected between the front end plate and the rear end plate; a guide portion mounted on a front end plate of the support portion, adapted to be bent to a target position in the body of the subject; a surgical assembly extending from a rear end plate of the support portion through the receiving chamber and forwardly from the guide portion; the stiffness varying mechanism is configured to vary the stiffness of the guide portion to maintain the actuator of the surgical assembly in the target position for performing a surgical operation on the surgical assembly in a predetermined pose.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the variable stiffness mechanism includes: tensioning unit, tensioning wire and a plurality of ball sub-units. The tensioning unit is configured to provide a tensioning force; one end of the tensioning wire is connected with the tensioning unit; the other end of the tensioning wire sequentially passes through the ball auxiliary units and is fixed at the front ends of the ball auxiliary units, and the ball auxiliary units are configured to change the rigidity of the ball auxiliary units through the tensioning wire under the action of the tensioning force of the tensioning unit.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, each of the ball sub units is formed with an axially extending operation through hole, and each of two axially opposite ends of each ball sub unit is formed as a spherical protrusion or a spherical groove matched in shape with the spherical protrusion, one of two opposite ends of two adjacent ball sub units is formed as a spherical protrusion, and the other end is formed as a spherical groove accommodating the spherical protrusion.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, each ball-and-socket unit is made of an elastic material, the contact surface of each of said ball-and-socket units having a substantially cylindrical or substantially spherical profile.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the stiffness varying mechanism comprises a negative pressure device; the rigidity control pipe penetrates through the guide part at the axis of the guide part, particles are filled in the rigidity control pipe, the negative pressure device reduces the pressure in the rigidity control pipe through the air duct, and the pressure and friction between the particles are increased to increase the rigidity of the rigidity control pipe.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the guide portion includes a plurality of joints coupled in sequence, the surgical assembly passes through each of the joints, and a radial bending is configured between two adjacent joints so that the guide portion can swing under the drive of the driving mechanism.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the instrument guide arm system further comprises a channel tube mounted between the outer side of the front end plate and the guide, the surgical assembly passing through the channel tube, the channel tube having a length designed such that the guide passes through the chest or abdominal wall of the surgical object into the cavity where the target site is located.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the instrument guide arm system further comprises at least one set of drive mechanisms, each set of drive mechanisms comprising two drive portions, two transmission cables, and two transmission portions. The two driving parts are respectively arranged on two opposite side walls of the supporting part; each of the driving cables extends from the supporting part through the guide part and is connected to the foremost end of the guide part to drive the guide part to bend under the traction of the driving part; two transmission parts are installed between the driving part and the guiding part to guide the transmission cables into the guiding parts, respectively.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the transmission part further includes an elastic member connected between the transmission cable and the driving part, and the elastic member is adapted to provide a pre-tightening force for the transmission cable, so as to shorten a transmission delay of the transmission cable.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, each of the driving parts includes: support frame, driving motor, lead screw and movable block. The support frame is arranged on the inner side of the side wall of the support part; the driving motor is arranged at one end, close to the rear end plate, of the supporting frame; the screw rod is arranged on the supporting frame and is driven by the driving motor to rotate; the moving block is in threaded connection with the screw rod to linearly reciprocate relative to the support frame under the rotation of the screw rod, and the transmission cable is connected to the moving block.

According to the instrument guide arm system for the single-hole surgical robot, the rigidity-changing mechanism is arranged in the guide part, so that the instrument guide arm system can follow the guide part to bend when the target position is adjusted, and can also keep the actuator of the surgical assembly at the target position after the guide part bends to the target position in the surgical object, so that rigid support is provided for the actuator of the single-hole surgical robot in the surgical operation process, and the actuator is prevented from being deviated at the target position. The instrument guide arm system can keep the operation assembly in a proper initial pose, so that a doctor can perform operation under the optimal operation pose and the optimal view angle, and the operation efficiency is improved.

Drawings

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a perspective view of an instrument guide arm system for a single hole surgical robot in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a top view of the instrument guide arm system illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a perspective view of a variable stiffness mechanism of an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates a front view of the variable stiffness mechanism illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 schematically illustrates a cross-sectional view of A-A of the variable stiffness mechanism shown in FIG. 4;

fig. 6 schematically illustrates a perspective view of a support portion of an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 7 schematically illustrates a front view of the front end plate of the support shown in fig. 6;

FIG. 8 schematically illustrates a perspective view of a connection of a guide and a variable stiffness mechanism of an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 schematically illustrates a side view of the connection of the guide and the variable stiffness mechanism shown in FIG. 8;

fig. 10 schematically illustrates a front view of the guide shown in fig. 8;

FIG. 11 schematically illustrates a perspective view of a rear endplate and side walls of the instrument guide arm system of FIG. 1 with support removed;

FIG. 12 schematically illustrates a perspective view of the removal support of the instrument guide arm system illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 13 schematically illustrates a perspective view of a drive mechanism of an instrument guide arm system coupled to a guide in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

Fig. 14 schematically illustrates a front view of the connection of the drive mechanism and guide shown in fig. 13; and

fig. 15 schematically illustrates a perspective view of a surgical assembly of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Reference numerals illustrate:

1-a support;

11-a front end plate;

111-a first support hole; 112-a second support hole; 113-a third support hole; 114-connecting holes; 115-fixing holes; 116-channel holes; 117-mounting holes;

12-a rear end plate; 13-sidewalls; 14-a frame fixing hole; 15-a spare hole; 16-frame positioning holes;

17-a guide hole; 18-a control hole; 19-an operating window;

2-a guide;

21-joint;

211-a first through hole; 212-a second via; 213-a third via; 214-threading; 215-connecting pins;

3-a surgical assembly;

31-an endoscope assembly;

311-a first control section; 312-a first guide tube; 313-camera;

32-surgical instruments;

321-a second control section; 322-a second guide tube; 323-an actuator;

4-a driving mechanism;

41-a driving part;

411-a support frame; 412-driving a motor; 413-a lead screw; 414-moving the block;

42-a transmission cable; 43-a transmission part; 44-an elastic member; 45-connecting piece;

5-a rigidity-changing mechanism;

51-stiffness control tube; 52-an airway; 53-tensioning the wire; 54, tensioning screw threads;

55-ball-pair units; 551-first ball-and-socket joint; 552-a second ball-and-socket joint; 553-operating through holes; 554-spherical grooves 555-spherical protrusions; 556-tapered section hole;

56-constrained end;

6-channel tube.

Detailed Description

For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles and advantages of the disclosure, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. This disclosure may, however, be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art. In the drawings, the size of layers and regions, as well as the relative sizes, may be exaggerated for the same elements throughout.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the description is only exemplary and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure. It may be evident, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In addition, in the following description, descriptions of well-known structures and techniques are omitted so as not to unnecessarily obscure the concepts of the present disclosure.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. The terms "comprises," "comprising," and/or the like, as used herein, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, or components.

All terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art unless otherwise defined. It should be noted that the terms used herein should be construed to have meanings consistent with the context of the present specification and should not be construed in an idealized or overly formal manner.

For the convenience of those skilled in the art to understand the technical solutions of the present disclosure, the following technical terms will be explained.

Where expressions like at least one of "A, B and C, etc. are used, the expressions should generally be interpreted in accordance with the meaning as commonly understood by those skilled in the art (e.g.," a system having at least one of A, B and C "shall include, but not be limited to, a system having a alone, B alone, C alone, a and B together, a and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, C together, etc.). Where a formulation similar to at least one of "A, B or C, etc." is used, in general such a formulation should be interpreted in accordance with the ordinary understanding of one skilled in the art (e.g. "a system with at least one of A, B or C" would include but not be limited to systems with a alone, B alone, C alone, a and B together, a and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, C together, etc.).

In the present disclosure, "front" and "rear" are relative to an operator using the instrument guide arm system for a single-hole surgical robot provided by the present disclosure, an end close to the operator (e.g., doctor) is "rear", an end far from the operator is "front", an upper end (an end of the support portion) is "rear", and a lower end (an end close to the surgical object) is "front", as viewed from the instrument guide arm system for a single-hole surgical robot shown in fig. 1. For example, in fig. 1, the movement from top to bottom is "forward movement", and the movement from bottom to top is "backward movement".

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a single-hole surgical robot refers to an auxiliary robot device that performs a surgery by only placing a surgical tool with one skin incision (e.g., a skin incision that may be 3-4 cm).

Fig. 1 schematically illustrates a perspective view of an instrument guide arm system for a single hole surgical robot according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and fig. 2 schematically illustrates a top view of the instrument guide arm system illustrated in fig. 1.

As one aspect of the disclosed embodiments, an instrument guide arm system for a single hole surgical robot is provided, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, comprising a support portion 1, a guide portion 2, a surgical assembly 3, and a variable stiffness mechanism 5. The support portion 1 internally forms a housing chamber defined by a front end plate 11, a rear end plate 12, and a side wall 13 connected between the front end plate and the rear end plate. The guide part 2 is mounted on the front end plate 11 of the support part 1 and is suitable for being bent to a target position in the body of an operation object; the surgical assembly 3 passes from the rear end plate 12 of the support 1 through the receiving chamber and projects forward from the guide 2; the rigidity changing mechanism 5 is configured to change the rigidity of the guide portion 2, hold the actuator of the surgical assembly 3 at a target position, and cause the surgical assembly 3 to perform a surgical operation in a predetermined posture.

According to the instrument guide arm system for the single-hole surgical robot, the stiffness-changing mechanism 5 is arranged in the guide part 2, so that the instrument guide arm system can follow the guide part 2 to bend when the target position is adjusted, can also keep the actuator of the surgical assembly 3 at the target position after the guide part 2 bends to the target position in the surgical object, and can provide a rigid support for the actuator of the single-hole surgical robot in the surgical operation process, so that the actuator is prevented from being deviated at the target position. The instrument guide arm system can keep the operation assembly in a proper initial pose, so that a doctor can perform operation under the optimal operation pose and the optimal view angle, and the operation efficiency is improved.

Fig. 3 schematically illustrates a perspective view of a variable stiffness mechanism of an embodiment of the present disclosure, fig. 4 schematically illustrates a front view of the variable stiffness mechanism illustrated in fig. 3, and fig. 5 schematically illustrates a cross-sectional view of A-A of the variable stiffness mechanism illustrated in fig. 4.

In one illustrative embodiment, as shown in fig. 3-5, the variable stiffness mechanism 5 includes a tensioning unit, a tensioning wire 53, and a plurality of ball sub-units 55. The tensioning unit is configured to provide a tensioning force, one end of the tensioning wire 53 is connected to the tensioning unit, the other end of the tensioning wire 53 sequentially passes through the plurality of ball sub-units 55 and is fixed to front ends of the plurality of ball sub-units 55, and the plurality of ball sub-units 55 are configured to change the rigidity of the plurality of ball sub-units 55 by the tensioning wire 53 under the tensioning force of the tensioning unit.

In an exemplary embodiment, each ball sub-unit 55 is supported by an elastic material, has a substantially cylindrical outer profile, and is formed with an axially extending operation through-hole 553, and each of two axially opposite ends of each ball sub-unit 55 is formed as a spherical protrusion 555 or a spherical recess 554 that is in shape engagement with the spherical protrusion, and one of two opposite ends of two adjacent ball sub-units 55 is formed as a spherical protrusion and the other is formed as a spherical recess that accommodates the spherical protrusion. In this way, it is possible to smoothly bend two adjacent ball sub-units with respect to each other.

Further, each ball sub unit 55 includes a first ball sub joint 551 and a second ball sub joint 552, and the center axes of the first ball sub joint 551 and the second ball sub joint 552 are provided with an operation through hole 553. The two ends of the first ball-and-socket joint 551 are provided with spherical protrusions 555. The second ball-and-socket joint 552 has spherical recesses 554 at both ends that mate with the spherical projections of the first ball-and-socket joint.

Further, since the gap between the tension wire 53 and the operation through hole 553 is small (about 0.1 mm), the two ends of the first ball sub-joint 551 are respectively provided with the tapered section holes 556, and the operation through hole 553 of the first ball sub-joint 551 is provided between the two tapered section holes 556, so that the tension wire 53 can be bent between each of the first ball sub-joint 551 and the second ball sub-joint 552, and thus all the ball sub-units 55 can follow the guide portion 2 to achieve bending at any angle. When the guide part 2 is adjusted to the target position, the tensioning unit is controlled to tension all the ball sub units 55 through the tensioning wire 53, so that the relative position of each ball sub unit 55 is locked, and the guide part 2 is kept unchanged at the target position.

The plurality of ball sub units 55 penetrate the guide 2 at the axis of the guide 2, and further, the plurality of ball sub units 55 are inserted into third through holes 213 (which will be described later in detail with reference to fig. 8 to 10) of each joint 21 of the guide. The tensioning unit is connected to one end of a tensioning wire 53. The other end of the tension wire 53 passes through the operation through-hole 553 of each ball sub-unit 55, and is coupled to the front end of the ball sub-unit located at the front end, for example, by a tension screw 54 provided at the front end of the ball sub-unit located at the front end. In this way, pulling the tension wire 53 by the tension unit causes the plurality of ball sub units 55 to be pressed against each other with respect to the front end plate of the support portion and to expand radially outward, so that the friction force of the spherical protrusions and the spherical grooves of the adjacent two ball sub units, which are bonded to each other, increases, thereby increasing the rigidity of the plurality of ball sub units 55 against bending, and thus increasing the rigidity of the guide portion 2.

In an exemplary embodiment, a restricting member 56 is provided at the rear end of the rearmost ball sub-unit 55, and as shown in fig. 1, the restricting member 56 abuts against the end of the passage pipe 6 (which will be described later in detail). In this way, when the tensioning unit tightens the tensioning wire 53, the restraining member 56 prevents the ball sub units 55 from moving toward the channel pipe 6, so that the plurality of ball sub units 55 are pressed against each other with respect to the front end plate 11 of the support part 1 and expand radially outward, and friction force of the spherical protrusions and the spherical grooves of the adjacent two ball sub units 54 combined with each other increases. The other end of the tension wire 53 is fixed to a tension screw 54, and the tension wire 53 is connected to the tension unit through a plurality of ball sub units 55, a restraining end 56, a receiving chamber of the support part 1, and a control hole 18 on the rear end plate 12 of the support part 1. The tensioning unit changes the rigidity of the plurality of ball sub units 55 by tightening the tensioning wire 53.

It will be appreciated that the constraining member 56 may abut between the front end plate 11 and the guide 2 in case the instrument guide arm system for a single hole surgical robot does not comprise a channel tube 6.

In the above embodiment, the contact surface of each ball sub-unit 55 has a substantially spherical profile, and the thus-formed variable stiffness mechanism 5 is referred to as a wire-tension-lock ball-sub variable stiffness mechanism. In another alternative embodiment, the contact surface of each ball sub-unit 55 has a generally cylindrical profile, and the resulting variable stiffness mechanism 5 is referred to as a wire-tension-lock cylindrical sub-variable stiffness mechanism.

In another exemplary embodiment, the variable stiffness mechanism 5 is a particle blocking (jamming) variable stiffness mechanism, comprising a negative pressure device and a stiffness control tube 51. The negative pressure device is suitable for generating negative pressure. The rigidity control pipe 51 penetrates the guide part 1 at the axis of the guide part 2, particles are filled in the rigidity control pipe 51, the negative pressure device reduces the pressure in the rigidity control pipe 51 through the air duct 52, and the pressure and friction between the particles are increased to increase the rigidity of the rigidity control pipe. Wherein the particles may comprise a relatively rough surface, less elastic material such as resin spheres, plastic spheres, etc., and the particles are pressed against each other during evacuation to cause the stiffness control tube to change stiffness. It will be appreciated that the particles are not limited to spheres in shape, but may be any one or a combination of ellipsoids, polyhedra, and the like.

In yet another exemplary embodiment, the stiffness varying mechanism 5 is a low melting point metal phase-change stiffness varying mechanism, and includes a heating unit, a wire and a stiffness control tube, the stiffness control tube penetrates through the guiding portion at the axis of the guiding portion, the stiffness control tube is filled with the low melting point metal, the heating unit heats the low melting point metal in the stiffness control tube through the wire, so that the solid low melting point metal is melted to be in a liquid state, and the stiffness of the stiffness control tube is changed. When the guide part moves to the target position, the heating unit stops heating the low-melting-point metal, the low-melting-point metal is cooled through heat dissipation of the rigidity control pipe and becomes solid, and the rigidity of the rigidity control pipe is increased. Further, the low-melting point metal is a metal having a melting point near or below the temperature in the cavity of the surgical object (for example, about 37 ℃) and an alloy thereof, and may be, for example, any one of gallium, cesium, and the like or an alloy containing the same.

Fig. 6 schematically illustrates a perspective view of a support portion of an embodiment of the present disclosure, and fig. 7 schematically illustrates a front view of a front end plate of the support portion illustrated in fig. 6.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 1, 2, 6 and 7, the support portion includes a front end plate 11, a rear end plate 12, and a side wall 13 connected between the front end plate and the rear end plate. The front end of the side wall 13 extends outward in the circumferential direction and is provided with a plurality of through holes. A plurality of mounting holes 117 are provided in the front end plate at positions matching with the through holes of the flanges on the side walls, and a plurality of screw nuts are respectively passed through the through holes and the mounting holes 117 to detachably connect the front end plate 11 with the flanges of the side walls 13.

In an exemplary embodiment, the number of mounting holes 117 is 9.

With further reference to fig. 1 and 6, at least one operation window 19 is provided between two adjacent side walls 13 of the support portion 1, and the operation window 19 provides an operation space for installing the driving mechanism 4. Thus, in a radial cross section, a frame structure is formed with a partially open periphery by the side walls 13. In an alternative embodiment, the operating window may be omitted such that the side wall is formed as a peripherally closed polygonal structure.

Fig. 8 schematically illustrates a perspective view of a connection of a guide and a variable stiffness mechanism of an embodiment of the present disclosure, fig. 9 schematically illustrates a side view of the connection of the guide and the variable stiffness mechanism illustrated in fig. 8, and fig. 10 schematically illustrates a front view of the guide illustrated in fig. 8.

According to the disclosed embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, 8 to 10, the guide 2 comprises a plurality of joints 21 joined in sequence, the surgical assembly 3 passing through each joint 21, the two adjacent joints 21 being configured to be radially bendable, so that the guide 2 can oscillate under the drive of the drive mechanism 4.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 8 and 9, two adjacent joints 21 are rotatably connected by a connecting pin 215. Further, the joint 21 at the front end is a start joint, the joint at the rear end is an end joint, the joint between the start joint and the end joint is an intermediate joint, and the end joint is coupled to the front end plate 11. Two protruding parts extend backwards from two opposite ends on the rear surface of the starting joint, pin shaft holes are formed in the protruding parts along the direction perpendicular to the axis of the guiding part, and the pin shaft holes are suitable for being connected with pin shaft holes of other joints through connecting pins 215.

Pin shaft holes are arranged on the front surface and the rear surface of the middle joint, and the axes of the pin shaft holes on the front surface are orthogonal to the axes of the pin shaft holes on the rear surface. Wherein the pin hole on the front surface of the middle knuckle is connected with the pin hole on the rear surface of the starting knuckle by the connecting pin 215, so that the middle knuckle and the starting knuckle can rotate around the axis of the two connecting pins 215 connecting the middle knuckle and the starting knuckle.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a plurality of threads 214 are provided at the edge of the anterior surface of the starting joint. The plurality of threads 214 are respectively used for fixing one end of the driving cable 42.

According to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the guide part 2 includes at least three joints 21, so that the guide part 2 can be ensured to have at least two-directional bending capability.

In an exemplary embodiment, the guide 2 may include 5, 6, 8, etc. joints.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the joint 21 may be any one of a sliding joint, a rolling joint, a compliant deformation joint, a continuum joint, and the like.

According to the disclosed embodiment, as shown in fig. 8 and 11, a plurality of first through holes 211, a plurality of second through holes 212, and a third through hole 213 are formed on each joint 21 of the guide 2. A plurality of first through holes 211 are provided on a first circumference located near an edge of the joint 21, the driving cables 42 are connected to a foremost starting joint through the first through holes 211, respectively, a plurality of second through holes 212 are concentrically provided on a second circumference located inside the first circumference, guide pipes of the surgical assembly 3 (to be described later) are respectively passed through the second through holes 212, a third through hole 213 is provided at a center of the second circumference, and the rigidity control pipe 51 of the rigidity-varying mechanism 5 or the plurality of ball sub units 55 are inserted into the third through holes 213.

In an exemplary embodiment, the number of the first and second through holes 211 and 212 is 4.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the guide tube of the surgical assembly 3 is a flexible tube.

According to the disclosed embodiment, the instrument guide arm system further comprises a channel tube 6, as shown in fig. 1. The channel tube 6 is mounted between the outside of the front end plate 11 and the guide 2, the surgical assembly 3 is passed through the channel tube 6, and the length of the channel tube 6 is designed such that the guide 2 passes through the chest or abdominal wall of the surgical object to the body of the surgical object where the target site is located. The distance between the guide part 2 and the supporting part 1 is increased by arranging the channel tube 6, so that the supporting part 1 cannot collide and interfere with an operation object during operation.

In an exemplary embodiment, the channel tube 6 may be integrally provided with the front end plate 11.

In another exemplary embodiment, the channel tube 6 and the front end plate 11 are detachably combined through screws, and the channel tube 6 with different lengths can be replaced according to different operation positions so as to respectively adapt to the operation requirements of different operation positions.

Fig. 11 schematically illustrates a perspective view of a rear end plate and side walls of the removal support of the instrument guide arm system of fig. 1, and fig. 12 schematically illustrates a perspective view of the removal support of the instrument guide arm system of fig. 1.

According to the disclosed embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, 2, 11 and 12, the instrument guide arm system comprises at least one set of driving mechanisms 4 provided on the support portion 1, each set of driving mechanisms 4 being configured to drive the guide portion 2 to bend such that the guide portion 2 guides the front end of the surgical assembly 3 to a target position within the surgical object body for performing a surgical operation on the target position by manipulating the rear end of the surgical assembly 3 at the rear end plate 12.

According to the disclosed embodiment, each set of driving mechanisms 4 comprises two driving portions 41, two transmission cables 42 and two transmission portions 43 as shown in fig. 11 and 12. Two driving parts 41 are respectively installed on the opposite side walls 13 of the supporting part 1, and each driving cable 42 extends from the supporting part 1 through the guide part 2 and is connected to a foremost joint among joints of the guide part 2 to drive the guide part 2 to bend under traction of the driving parts 41, and two driving parts 43 are installed between the driving parts 41 and the guide part 2 to guide the driving cables 42 into the guide part 2, respectively.

In an exemplary embodiment, the drive units belonging to the same group of drive mechanisms are respectively arranged on two side walls opposite to each other, and the side walls on which the drive units belonging to different groups of drive mechanisms are arranged are mutually perpendicular, so that the guide unit 2 can swing in a plurality of different planes under the drive of the plurality of groups of drive mechanisms.

In an exemplary embodiment, the instrument guide arm system comprises two sets of drive mechanisms 4, such that the guide portion 2 is capable of swinging in two mutually perpendicular planes under the drive of the two sets of drive mechanisms, and two drive mechanisms 4 belonging to different sets of drive mechanisms 4 are capable of simultaneously actuating such that the guide portion 2 is capable of swinging out of two mutually perpendicular planes under the drive of the two sets of drive mechanisms 4.

In an exemplary embodiment, as shown in fig. 1 and 6, the supporting portion 1 has four opposite side walls 13 for mounting the driving portions 41, respectively, and screws mount the driving portions 41 on the side walls 13 of the supporting portion 1 through the frame fixing holes 14 of the supporting portion 1, respectively.

In an exemplary embodiment, a standby side wall with a plurality of standby openings 15 and three operating windows 19 are provided between two adjacent side walls 13 for the installation of the drive 41, wherein the standby side walls can be connected to other devices via a plurality of standby openings 14.

Fig. 13 schematically illustrates a perspective view of the connection of one drive mechanism of an instrument guide arm system with a guide in an embodiment of the present disclosure, and fig. 14 schematically illustrates a front view of the connection of the drive mechanism with the guide shown in fig. 13.

According to the disclosed embodiment, as shown in fig. 11 to 14, each of the transmission parts 43 includes a plurality of guide wheels mounted inside the front end plate to guide the transmission cable 42 from the driving part 41 to the front end of the guide part 2.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 11 to 14, the transmission part 43 further includes an elastic member 44 connected between the transmission cable 42 and the driving part 41, and the elastic member 44 is adapted to provide a pre-tightening force to the transmission cable 42 to shorten a transmission delay of the transmission cable 42.

According to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the elastic member 44 is connected with the driving part 41 and the driving cable 42 through the connection member 45, respectively.

In one illustrative embodiment, the resilient member 44 is an extension spring.

In one illustrative embodiment, the connector 45 is a ring.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 11 to 14, each transmission part 43 further includes a plurality of guide wheel brackets, by which each guide wheel is mounted inside the front end plate.

In an exemplary embodiment, each transmission portion 43 comprises two guide wheels and two guide wheel brackets, the guide wheel brackets being provided with through holes for connection with the support portion 1. As shown in fig. 11 to 14, two through holes in one of the guide roller brackets in each of the transmission parts 43 are coupled with two coupling holes 114 in the front end plate 11 by screw nuts, and at the same time, screws passing through the coupling holes 114 are coupled with screws passing through the passage holes 116 by nuts, respectively, to the front end plate with the passage pipe 6.

According to the disclosed embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, 2, and 11 to 14, each driving part 41 includes a support frame 411, a driving motor 412, a screw 413, and a moving block 414. The support frame 411 is installed at an inner side of the side wall 13 of the support part 1, the driving motor 412 is installed at one end (upper end of fig. 14) of the support frame 411 near the rear end plate 12, the lead screw 413 is rotatably installed on the support frame 411 and extends in an axial direction to be rotated by driving of the driving motor 412, the moving block 414 is screw-coupled with the lead screw 413 to be linearly reciprocated with respect to the support frame 414 by rotation of the lead screw 413, and the driving cable 42 is connected to the moving block 414. Further, the driving cable 42 is connected to the front end of the moving block 414. In this way, the driving motor 412 may drive the driving cable 42 to move up and down through the screw and the moving block to pull the guide portion to bend.

According to the embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the driving motors 412 are respectively installed at the rear ends of the rear end plates 12 of the supporting parts 1, and the rear ends of the supporting frames 411 are respectively coupled with the rear end plates 12 by screws. The drive motors belonging to the same group of drive mechanisms can drive the two transmission cables to move in opposite directions at the same speed and at opposite rotation speeds, so that the guide part can be kept to be bent stably.

According to the disclosed embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, 2, 11, 12 and 15, the surgical assembly 3 includes an endoscope assembly 31 and at least one surgical instrument 32. The endoscope assembly 31 includes a first control portion 311, a first guide tube 312, and a camera 313. The first control portion 311 is mounted on the rear end plate 12, and a first guide tube 312 extends from the first control portion 311 through the guide portion 2 to the vicinity of the target position. A camera 313 is coupled to a front end of the first guide tube 312 to capture an image of a target position. Each surgical instrument 32 includes a second control portion 321, a second guide tube 322, and an actuator 323. The second control portion 321 is mounted on the rear end plate 12, and the second guide tube 322 extends from the second control portion 321 through the guide portion 2 to the vicinity of the target position. An actuator 323 is coupled to the distal end of the second guide tube 322, and the operator performs an operation on the target position by operating the second control unit 311 based on an image of the target position captured by the camera 313.

It will be appreciated that the first control portion 311 and the second control portion 321 may also be mounted on other support frames of a single hole surgical robot. For example, the single-hole surgical robot may be mounted on a support frame provided at the rear end of the support portion.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a surgical operator performs a surgical operation by adjusting the actuator 323 to a target position through a driving mechanism according to an image captured by the camera 313.

In an exemplary embodiment, the surgical assembly 3 includes 2 or 3 surgical instruments.

In one illustrative embodiment, as shown in fig. 1 and 15, the surgical assembly includes 3 surgical instruments and one endoscope assembly, with 1 surgical instrument serving as an auxiliary instrument. In this way, the instrument guide arm system of the embodiment of the disclosure can provide a proper initial pose for the surgical instrument and the endoscope, so that a doctor can obtain the optimal surgical pose and the optimal view angle of the surgical instrument and the endoscope in the operation space, and further the surgical efficiency is improved.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the guide tube of the surgical assembly 3 includes a first guide tube 312 and a plurality of second guide tubes 322.

According to the embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 4, a plurality of first supporting holes 111 are opened on the front end plate 11 of the supporting part 1, the first supporting holes 111 are opposite to the first through holes 211 on the guiding part 2, and the driving cables 42 are respectively connected to the driving part 41 from the guiding part 2 through the first supporting holes 111 respectively through the guiding of the driving part 43.

The front end plate 11 of the support part 1 is further provided with a plurality of second support holes 112, the second support holes 112 are opposite to the second through holes 212 on the guide part 2, and the guide tube of the surgical assembly 3 is connected into the accommodating cavity of the support part 1 from the front end of the guide part 2 through the second support holes 112 and the guide holes 17 on the rear end plate 12 of the support part 1 respectively.

At least one third supporting hole 113 is formed in the front end plate 11 of the supporting part 1, the third supporting hole 113 is opposite to the third through hole 213 in the guiding part 2, and a transmission unit (such as an air duct or a tensioning wire) of the variable stiffness mechanism 5 passes through the third supporting hole 113 from the rear end of the guiding part 2 and a control hole 18 in the rear end plate 12 of the supporting part 1 to be connected to the control end. The transmission unit of the variable stiffness mechanism 5 may comprise an airway tube, a guide wire or a tensioning wire of the embodiments of the variable stiffness mechanism described above. The control end may comprise a negative pressure device, a heating unit or a tensioning unit of an embodiment of the variable stiffness mechanism described above. The control end may be mounted on the posterior end plate 12 or external to the single hole surgical robot.

In an exemplary embodiment, the number of the third support holes 113 is 1. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, by providing the first, second and third support holes 111, 112, 113 on the front end plate 11, intermediate support is provided for the transmission cable 42, the guide tube of the surgical assembly 3 and the transmission unit of the variable stiffness mechanism 5, respectively, facilitating the assembly of the instrument.

In another exemplary embodiment, a through hole is provided in the middle of the front end plate 11, allowing the guide tube of the surgical assembly 3, the transmission cable and the transmission unit of the variable stiffness mechanism to pass through this through hole in the middle of the front end plate into the channel tube.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the stiffness varying mechanism 5 is initially in an initially flexible straight state, the surgical instrument and the camera (endoscope) in the surgical assembly 3 are passed through the guide 2 through flexible guide tubes, respectively, further causing the actuator 323 of the surgical instrument tip and the camera 313 of the endoscope assembly tip to protrude out of the front end of the guide 2 and to be adjusted to a target position. The driving mechanism 4 drives the guide part 2, so that the actuator 323 and the camera 313 are adjusted to the target positions, the rigidity of the guide part 2 is increased through the rigidity changing mechanism 5, a rigid support is provided for the surgical assembly 3, and the surgical assembly 3 completes the surgical operation under the target positions and the rigid support.

According to the embodiment of the present disclosure, in the chest single hole surgery, the axial length of the guide part 2 is limited by the intra-cavity size of the surgical object (e.g., human body), the cross-sectional diameter of the guide part 2 is limited by the rib clearance of the surgical object, and the maximum bending angle of the guide part 2 is affected by the shape of the surgical operation area, and a larger operation area means a larger bending angle of the guide part 2. The axial length of the guide portion 2, the cross-sectional diameter of the guide portion, and the maximum bending angle of the guide portion are constrained by each other, and therefore, the above parameters should be appropriately arranged according to the specific surgical requirements.

In an exemplary embodiment, the axial length of the guide 2 is 40mm, the cross-sectional diameter is 30mm, and the maximum unidirectional bending angle can be up to 60 °.

The instrument guide arm system for the single-hole surgical robot has the advantages of small axial size and large deflection angle, can realize large-angle deflection movement in a narrow surgical space, can provide a guide channel for flexible surgical instruments, and meets the instrument replacement requirement in the surgical process. The instrument guide arm system of the single-hole surgical robot realizes the deflection at the tail end of the surgical assembly and rapid rigid-flexible conversion, thereby improving the surgical efficiency.

Thus, embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that, in the drawings or the text of the specification, implementations not shown or described are all forms known to those of ordinary skill in the art, and not described in detail. Furthermore, the above definitions of the elements and methods are not limited to the specific structures, shapes or modes mentioned in the embodiments, and may be simply modified or replaced by those of ordinary skill in the art.

From the foregoing description, one skilled in the art should be aware of the instrument guide arm system for a single hole surgical robot provided by the present disclosure.

In summary, the present disclosure provides an instrument guide arm system for a single hole surgical robot that can achieve a large angular deflection motion in a small surgical space and maintain a surgical assembly at a target position through a stiffness varying mechanism, so that an operator can perform a surgical operation in a predetermined posture of the surgical assembly, which improves the flexibility of the surgical instrument, and further improves the surgical efficiency.

It should be further noted that, the directional terms mentioned in the embodiments, such as "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", etc., are only referring to the directions of the drawings, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Like elements are denoted by like or similar reference numerals throughout the drawings. In the event that an understanding of the present disclosure may be made, conventional structures or constructions will be omitted, and the shapes and dimensions of the various parts in the drawings do not reflect actual sizes and proportions, but merely illustrate the contents of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

Unless otherwise known, numerical parameters in this specification and the appended claims are approximations that may vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by the present disclosure. In particular, all numbers expressing quantities of ingredients, reaction conditions, and so forth used in the specification and claims are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term "about". In general, the meaning of expression is meant to include a variation of + -10% in some embodiments, a variation of + -5% in some embodiments, a variation of + -1% in some embodiments, and a variation of + -0.5% in some embodiments by a particular amount.

The use of ordinal numbers such as "first," "second," "third," etc., in the description and the claims to modify a corresponding element does not by itself connote any ordinal number of elements or the order of manufacturing or use of the ordinal numbers in a particular claim, merely for enabling an element having a particular name to be clearly distinguished from another element having the same name.

Furthermore, unless specifically described or steps must occur in sequence, the order of the above steps is not limited to the list above and may be changed or rearranged according to the desired design. In addition, the above embodiments may be mixed with each other or other embodiments based on design and reliability, i.e. the technical features of the different embodiments may be freely combined to form more embodiments.

The foregoing embodiments have been provided for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the present disclosure, and are not meant to limit the disclosure to the particular embodiments disclosed, but to limit the scope of the disclosure to the particular embodiments disclosed.

Claims (10)

1. An instrument guide arm system adapted for use with a single hole surgical robot, comprising:

a support part (1) in which a housing chamber defined by a front end plate (11), a rear end plate (12), and a side wall (13) connected between the front end plate (11) and the rear end plate (12) is formed;

a guide part (2) mounted on a front end plate (11) of the support part (1) and adapted to be bent to a target position in the body of the subject;

a surgical assembly (3) extending from a rear end plate (12) of the support (1) through the receiving chamber and forwardly from the guide (2); and

and a rigidity changing mechanism (5) configured to change the rigidity of the guide portion (2), hold the actuator of the surgical assembly (3) at the target position, and perform a surgical operation on the surgical assembly (3) in a predetermined posture.

2. The instrument guide arm system according to claim 1, wherein the variable stiffness mechanism (5) comprises:

a tensioning unit configured to provide a tensioning force;

a tensioning wire (53), one end of which is connected to the tensioning unit; and

the other ends of the tensioning wires (53) sequentially penetrate through the ball sub-units (55) and are fixed at the front ends of the ball sub-units (55), and the ball sub-units (55) are configured to change the rigidity of the ball sub-units (55) through the tensioning wires (53) under the action of the tensioning force of the tensioning units.

3. The instrument guide arm system according to claim 2, wherein each of the ball sub-units (55) is formed with an axially extending operation through-hole (553), each of two axially opposite ends of each ball sub-unit (55) is formed as a spherical protrusion (555) or a spherical recess (554) that is in shape-fit with the spherical protrusion, one of two opposite ends of two adjacent ball sub-units is formed as a spherical protrusion (555), and the other end is formed as a spherical recess (554) that accommodates the spherical protrusion.

4. An instrument guide arm system according to claim 3, wherein each ball sub-unit (55) is made of an elastic material, the contact surface of each ball sub-unit (55) having a substantially cylindrical or substantially spherical profile.

5. The instrument guide arm system according to claim 1, wherein the variable stiffness mechanism (5) comprises:

a negative pressure device; and

the rigidity control tube (51) penetrates through the guide part (2) at the axis of the guide part (2), particles are filled in the rigidity control tube (51), the negative pressure device reduces the pressure in the rigidity control tube (51) through the air duct (52), and the rigidity of the rigidity control tube (51) is increased by increasing the pressure and friction among the particles.

6. The instrument guide arm system according to any one of claims 1-5, the guide (2) comprising a plurality of joints (21) joined in sequence, the surgical assembly (3) passing through each of the joints (21), adjacent two joints (21) being configured to be radially bendable such that the guide (2) is capable of swinging under the drive of the drive mechanism (4).

7. The instrument guide arm system of any of claims 1-5 further comprising:

a channel tube (6) mounted between the outer side of the front end plate (11) and the guide part (2), the surgical assembly (3) passing through the channel tube (6), the length of the channel tube (6) being designed such that the guide part (2) passes through the chest wall or abdominal wall of the surgical object to the cavity where the target position is located.

8. The instrument guide arm system of claim 6, further comprising at least one set of drive mechanisms (4), each set of drive mechanisms (4) comprising:

two driving parts (41) respectively mounted on two opposite side walls (13) of the supporting part (1);

-two transmission cables (42), each transmission cable (42) extending from the support (1) through the guide (2) and being connected to the foremost end of the guide (2) to drive the guide (2) to bend under traction of the drive (41); and

Two transmission parts (43) installed between the driving part (41) and the guide part (2) to guide the transmission cables (42) into the guide part (2), respectively.

9. The instrument guide arm system according to claim 8, the transmission portion (43) further comprising a resilient member (44) connected between the transmission cable (42) and the drive portion (41), the resilient member (44) being adapted to provide a pre-tension force to the transmission cable (42) to shorten a transmission delay of the transmission cable (42).

10. The instrument guide arm system of claim 8, wherein each of the drive portions (41) includes:

a support frame (411) mounted on the inner side of the side wall (13) of the support part (1);

a driving motor (412) mounted at one end of the supporting frame (411) near the rear end plate (12);

a screw (413) mounted on the support frame (411) to be rotated by the driving motor (412); and

a moving block (414) screw-coupled with the lead screw (413) to linearly reciprocate with respect to the support frame (411) under rotation of the lead screw (413), and the driving cable (42) is connected to the moving block (414).