JP2010252837A - Surgical manipulator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a surgical manipulator having mechanisms for positioning existing forceps with finger hooking parts formed at positions inclined to one side relative to a shaft center and for opening/closing the forceps, and capable of absorbing rotation moment generated when the forceps are opened/closed. <P>SOLUTION: The surgical manipulator includes: a support base 60 having a holding means 61 for attaching the forceps 120 with finger hooking parts 122 and 124 inclined to one side relative to the shaft center; an opening/closing mechanism 70 for opening/closing the finger hooking parts of the forceps; a rotating table 50 for rotatably holding the support base around a plurality of axes; and arms 30 for linearly and/or rotatably supporting the rotating table in the horizontal and/or vertical direction. The rotating table has locking mechanisms 51, 55 and 57 for fixing the rotation of the support base around the respective axes relative to the arms. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a surgical manipulator that is used for endoscopic surgery and can operate forceps with multiple degrees of freedom. More specifically, the finger hook portion is biased to one side with respect to an axis. The present invention relates to a surgical manipulator that can position and open / close an existing forceps formed at a predetermined position.

Endoscopic surgery is widely performed as a minimally invasive surgery that does not involve laparotomy or thoracotomy.
In this surgery, a body trocar is imaged with an endoscope by attaching a cylindrical trocar to a small hole opened in the abdomen of the patient, inserting a treatment tool such as an endoscope and forceps from the trocar into the body cavity While observing the internal state, a treatment operation is performed on the affected area with the treatment tool.

  In endoscopic surgery, surgeons, endoscopy assistants, surgeon assistants, and nurses form a team to perform procedures, but it is necessary for the surgeon and assistant to cooperate and the procedures to be inserted. Because of the high degree of difficulty, such as lack of freedom of tools, research and development of surgical robots that support endoscopic surgery are being actively conducted.

  In Japan, the number of surgical doctors has decreased due to the lack of absolute number of doctors and the uneven distribution of medical departments, while the number of patients requiring minimally invasive surgery has increased due to the aging society with fewer children, Surgical treatment involving multiple doctors has become particularly difficult in rural areas. Therefore, it is conceivable to apply solo surgeries in which a surgeon (hereinafter referred to as “the practitioner”) performs an operation alone using a surgical robot.

  There are endoscope operation robots (AESOP (trademark), Naviot (trademark)) as surgical robots. This eliminates the need for communication with the endoscope assistant. However, these endoscope operation robots are intended only for the operation of the endoscope, and do not handle treatment tools such as forceps.

There are ZEUS (trademark) and da Vinci (trademark) as endoscopic surgical robots in which a practitioner operates an endoscope and a treatment instrument with multiple degrees of freedom. As a result, fine procedures such as blood vessel suturing can be performed.
However, it is difficult for these endoscopic surgical robots to handle existing treatment tools such as forceps having an opening / closing function.

In addition, for example, in the endoscopic surgical robot of Patent Document 1, an existing forceps can be attached, but an opening / closing function of the forceps or the like is not provided.
The endoscopic surgical robot of Patent Document 2 has an arm that holds a dedicated forceps with a gimbal mechanism. The opening and closing of the dedicated forceps is performed by a motor drive unit configured symmetrically with respect to the axis of the forceps. In the case of existing forceps or the like, the finger hook unit for opening and closing is operated by a human hand. Therefore, in many cases, the configuration must be biased to one side with respect to the axis.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-17752 JP-A-7-328015

  As described above, when the existing forceps or the like in which the finger hook portion is biased to one side with respect to the axis is mounted on the endoscopic surgical robot of Patent Document 2, when the finger hook portion is operated, the center of the gimbal mechanism is rotated. In some cases, a rotational moment is generated, and a rotational moment acting as a reaction acts on the forceps or the trocar into which the forceps is inserted, causing a load on the organ or abdominal wall.

  An object of the present invention is to have a mechanism for positioning an existing forceps formed at a position where a finger hook portion is biased to one side with respect to an axis and opening and closing the forceps, and absorbs a rotating moment generated when the forceps are opened and closed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a surgical manipulator that can be used.

In order to solve the above problems, the surgical manipulator of the present invention is:
A support base having a holding means to which a forceps formed at a position where the finger hook portion is biased to one side with respect to the axial center can be mounted;
An opening and closing mechanism for opening and closing a finger hook portion of the forceps;
A turntable for holding the support table rotatably about a plurality of axes;
An arm portion that supports the turntable so as to be linearly and / or rotationally operable in a plane direction and / or a vertical direction;
A surgical manipulator comprising:
The turntable has a lock mechanism that fixes the rotation of the support table around each axis with respect to the arm portion.

  According to the surgical manipulator of the present invention, the turntable that holds the support table rotatably is fixed by the lock mechanism so as not to rotate. Therefore, when the existing forceps having the finger hook portion at a position biased with respect to the axis is operated by the opening / closing mechanism, the support base does not rotate or move. That is, since the rotational moment generated by the reaction force or operation of the forceps is absorbed by the turntable, no load is applied to the organ or the abdominal wall.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing the basic configuration of the surgical manipulator of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the surgical manipulator of the present invention. It is the perspective view which looked at the holding means vicinity of the surgical manipulator of this invention from diagonally right forward. It is the perspective view which looked at the holding means vicinity of the surgical manipulator of this invention from the diagonally left front. It is a control block diagram of the surgical manipulator of the present invention. It is a perspective view of an operation part.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a basic configuration of a surgical manipulator (10) of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the surgical manipulator (10) of the present invention. In FIG. 2, an opening / closing mechanism (70), forceps (120), and a mounted object on the base (12), which will be described later, are omitted.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the surgical manipulator (10) includes a vertical arm portion (20) extending upward from a base (12) and a horizontal arm portion extending laterally from the tip of the vertical arm portion (20). (30) having an arm portion. A holding means (61) for the forceps (120) is disposed at the tip of the lateral arm (30) via the turntable (50).

The base (12) is movable on the floor surface by a roller (14). As shown in FIG. 1, the base (12) is provided with a vertical arm portion (20), its extension / contraction mechanism (23), a control portion (100), and the like (not shown in FIG. 2).
The control unit (100) provided on the base (12) has an operation unit (16) (see FIGS. 1, 5, and 6) that can be operated by a practitioner with hands and / or feet. It is connected.

The base (12) is provided with a vertical arm portion (20) that can extend and contract in the vertical direction.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the vertical arm portion (20) has a first vertical arm portion (21) standing vertically to the base (12), and the first vertical arm portion (21). The second vertical arm portion (22) arranged to be movable up and down.
The second vertical arm portion (22) can be moved up and down with respect to the first vertical arm portion (21) by the telescopic mechanism (23). As shown in FIG. 1, the expansion / contraction mechanism (23) includes a screw shaft (27) that rotates via a speed reduction mechanism (25) using an expansion / contraction motor (24) disposed in the base (12) as a power source, A nut portion (28) provided at the lower end of the second vertical arm portion (22) and screwed with the screw shaft (27) can be exemplified. When the telescopic motor (24) is operated, the screw shaft (27) rotates, and the nut portion (28) moves up and down along the screw shaft (27) by the screw thrust, so that the second vertical arm portion ( 22) moves up and down. Thereby, the vertical arm part (20) expands and contracts in the arrow Z direction in FIGS.

  The rotation of the telescopic motor (24) can be detected by the encoder (26), so that the telescopic state of the vertical arm portion (20) can be detected. If necessary, a limit switch (26a) (see FIG. 2), a potentiometer, or the like can be provided together with or in place of the encoder. The same applies to other encoders described below.

At the distal end of the vertical arm portion (20), in this embodiment, at the distal end of the second vertical arm portion (22), the horizontal arm portion (30) is disposed so as to be rotatable in a horizontal plane. A turntable (50), which will be described later, is provided at the tip of the horizontal arm portion (30).
The horizontal arm part (30) is parallel to the first horizontal arm part (32) rotatable in a plane perpendicular to the axial center of the vertical arm part (20) and the rotation surface of the first horizontal arm part (32). By forming the second lateral arm portion (42) rotatable relative to the first lateral arm portion (32) within a smooth plane, the degree of freedom of rotation of the lateral arm portion (30) can be increased.

The first horizontal arm portion (32) is rotatably supported in a horizontal plane by a first rotation mechanism (33) disposed at the upper end of the second vertical arm portion (22). The first rotation mechanism (33) can be composed of a first rotation motor (34) and a first speed reduction mechanism (35). By operating the first rotation motor (34), the first vertical arm With respect to the axis of the part (32), as shown by the arrow A in FIGS.
Note that the rotation of the first lateral arm portion (32) is preferably detected by the encoder (36).

A second lateral arm portion (42) is supported on the distal end side of the first lateral arm portion (32). The second horizontal arm portion (42) is rotatable in a horizontal plane by a second rotating mechanism (43) disposed at the tip of the first horizontal arm portion (32). The second rotation mechanism (43) can be composed of a second rotation motor (44) and a second speed reduction mechanism (45). By operating the second rotation motor (44), the first horizontal arm At the tip of the portion (32), it can rotate in a plane parallel to the first lateral arm portion (32) (arrow B in FIGS. 1 and 2).
Note that the rotation of the second horizontal arm portion (42) is preferably detected by the encoder (46).

  A support base (60) having a holding means (61) for the forceps (120) at the tip of the horizontal arm part (30), in the present embodiment, at the tip of the second horizontal arm part (42) via a turntable (50) Is deployed. The support base (60) can be rotated and fixed around a plurality of axes with respect to the horizontal arm part (30) by the rotary base (50).

In order to support the turntable (50) in a rotatable and fixable manner with respect to the lateral arm portion (30), an electromagnetic clutch (51) is provided on the second lateral arm portion (42). As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the electromagnetic clutch (51) is arranged such that the rotating shaft (52) projects in the longitudinal direction of the second lateral arm portion (42).
The turntable (50) can be composed of a U-shaped plate-like member, and the rotating shaft (52) of the electromagnetic clutch (51) is connected to the center rod (53).
The electromagnetic clutch (51) can be of an excitation-actuated type, so that in the energized state, the electromagnetic clutch (51) serves as a lock mechanism for the turntable (50), and in the non-energized state, the turntable (50 ) With respect to the lateral arm portion (30) so as to be rotatable in the direction of arrow C in FIG.

Further, electromagnetic clutches (55) and (57) are provided on the side rods (54) and (54) extending from both ends of the central rod (53) of the turntable (50). The electromagnetic clutches (55) and (57) are arranged facing each other so that the rotating shafts (56) and (58) are concentric.
The support base (60) is a substantially rectangular plate material in the illustrated embodiment, and the opposite side surfaces are supported by the rotating shafts (56) and (58) of the electromagnetic clutches (55) and (57).
The electromagnetic clutch (55) (57) can be an excitation-actuated type, so that when energized, the electromagnetic clutch (55) (57) moves the support base (60) against the turntable (50). Thus, the lock mechanism is fixed so as not to rotate, and in a non-energized state, the support base 60 is supported so as to be rotatable in the direction of arrow D in FIG.

  As described above, the support base (60) is supported so as to have a biaxial rotational degree of freedom with respect to the lateral arm portion (30). In addition to the above-described gimbal mechanism, the support base (60) can be supported so as to be swingable in the multi-axis direction with respect to the lateral arm portion (30) by a gimbal mechanism, a universal joint, a spherical bearing or the like. In any case, the support base (60) can be fixed to the lateral arm portion (30) by a lock mechanism. Note that the lock mechanism is not limited to the electromagnetic clutches (51), (55), and (57), and may be, for example, an electromagnetic brake.

A holding means (61) for mounting the forceps (120) is provided in the approximate center of the support base (60). The holding means (61) includes a support cylinder (62) in which a hole for inserting the forceps (120) is opened, and a support cylinder rotating mechanism (65) that rotatably supports the support cylinder (62).
The forceps (120) can be fixed to the support cylinder (62) using a screw (63) or the like in a hole opened in the center. The support tube (62) can be configured to allow attachments (64) with different hole diameters to be attached and detached so that forceps (120) with different outer diameters can be attached.

The support tube rotation mechanism (65) can be composed of a treatment instrument rotation motor (66) and a speed reduction mechanism (67) arranged on the support base (60), and operates the treatment instrument rotation motor (66). Thus, the forceps (120) held by the support tube (62) can be rotated in a desired direction.
The rotation of the support cylinder (62) is preferably detected by the encoder (68).

  The treatment instrument rotating motor (66) and the encoder (68) are arranged so that the heavy coil portion is positioned on the back surface of the support base (60), thereby reducing the weight of the opening / closing mechanism (70) described later. Acts as a balancer to correct the balance. In addition, when a weight balance cannot be maintained by these, it is desirable to provide a balancer such as a weight separately on the support base (60).

The support base (60) has an opening / closing mechanism (70) for operating a forceps (120) such as a grasping forceps and a peeling forceps having an opening / closing function, and a surgical instrument having a cutting function and a suturing function.
As the forceps (120), an existing forceps having finger hooks (122) (124) at a position biased to one side with respect to the axial center can be applied. This kind of forceps (120) is a treatment instrument that is opened and closed by a surgeon, usually by hand.

The opening / closing mechanism (70) has a fixed support part (73) and a movable support part (75) for supporting the finger hook parts (122) (124) of the forceps (120) so as to be slidable in the opening / closing direction.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the fixed support portion (73) can be exemplified by a rod-shaped member that passes through a plate (71) that is erected upward from the support base (60).
Moreover, the movable support part (75) can be exemplified by a rod-like member that is slidably fitted into an arc-shaped hole (72) that is formed through and above the fixed support part (73) of the plate (71).

  The fixed support portion (73) and the movable support portion (75) fit into the finger hook portions (122) and (124) of the forceps (120) inserted into the support tube (62). In the drawing, rod-shaped members are illustrated as the fixed support portion (73) and the movable support portion (75), but the shape is not limited to this, and forceps ( You may make it attach the attachment (not shown) according to the shape of the finger hook part (122) (124) of 120).

  The fixed support portion (73) and the movable support portion (75) penetrate the plate (71), and as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the movable support portion (75) is arced along the arc-shaped hole (72). It is connected to the sliding panda graph mechanism (80). The panda graph mechanism (80) is configured by connecting four link pieces (81) (81) (81) (81), and the opposing intersections are respectively connected to a fixed support portion (73) and a movable support portion (75 ).

  The panda graph mechanism (80) is provided with urging means (82) for urging the movable support portion (75) in a direction in which the movable support portion (75) is separated from the fixed support portion (73). As the biasing means (82), as shown in FIG. 4, a configuration in which compression springs (83) (83) are stretched between the link pieces (81) (81) can be exemplified.

As shown in FIG. 4, the panda graph mechanism (80) has one end of a wire (84) attached to a connecting portion with a movable support portion (75), and the wire (84) is connected to a fixed support portion (73). ) Is guided by a plurality of rollers (86) and (86) from the roller (85) supported by the shaft to the inside of the electromagnetic clutch (55) and (51) to the upper part of the first lateral arm portion (32). Yes.
A drum (93) that winds up the wire (84) is disposed on the upper portion of the first horizontal arm portion (32). The drum (93) is connected to a treatment instrument opening / closing motor ( 90). As the treatment instrument opening / closing motor (90), it is desirable to use a motor having a brake means such as an electromagnetic clutch (94) in order to prevent the wire (84) from loosening.
The rotation of the drum (93) can be detected by the encoder (92).

A control block diagram of the surgical manipulator (10) is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the control of the surgical manipulator (10) is performed centering on the control unit (100). The control unit (100) includes a CPU, a memory, and the like. The telescopic motor (24), the first rotation motor (34), the second rotation motor (44), and the treatment instrument rotation motor (66) described above. ), A treatment instrument opening / closing motor (90) is connected via a drive circuit (102) (104) (106) (108) (110), respectively, and an encoder (26) (36) (46) (68) (92) and electromagnetic clutches (51), (55), (57), and (94) are also connected to the control unit (100).
As shown in FIG. 6, the operation unit (16) for operating the surgical manipulator (10) includes the motors (24) (34) (44) (66) and the electromagnetic clutches (51) (55) (57). A plurality of operation buttons, switches, etc. (manual input or foot operation) for operating (94) are provided, and the control unit (100) operates the motor and the electromagnetic clutch based on the input from the operation unit (16).

As shown in FIG. 1, the surgical manipulator (10) having the above configuration is carried to a bed (130) on which a patient is placed, and by operating the operation unit (16), the telescopic motor (24) and the first rotation motor By operating (34) and the second rotation motor (44), the support base (60) at the tip of the lateral arm portion (30) can be moved to a desired position.
Since the forceps (120) passes the support cylinder (62) with the tip closed, the opening / closing mechanism (70) is previously provided with the wire (84) so that the pandagraph mechanism (80) is folded. It is pulled and held by the brake means (electromagnetic clutch (94)). The electromagnetic clutch (94) is preferably of a non-excitation operation type to prevent malfunction of the panda graph mechanism (80).

In this state, the forceps (120) is fixed to the support cylinder (62) by fixing the screw (63) or the like, and the forceps are fixed to the fixed support portion (73) and the movable support portion (75) as the opening / closing mechanism (70). (120) The finger hooks (122) and (124) are respectively fitted.
The forceps (120) is inserted into the body of the patient (132) from the trocar (140) inserted in advance in the abdomen of the patient (132) through the support tube (62) with the tip closed in advance.
At this time, in order to increase the degree of freedom of operation of the forceps (120), it is desirable that the electromagnetic clutches (51), (55) and (57) be in a non-energized state and unlocked.

  The position of the forceps (120) is observed with an endoscope (not shown), and when the position and orientation is determined, the electromagnetic clutch (51) (55) (57) is energized to rotate the holding means (61). While fixing with respect to a base (50), a rotary base (50) is fixed with respect to a 2nd horizontal arm part (42).

To open the forceps (120), when the electromagnetic clutch (94) is energized and the brake is released, the treatment instrument opening / closing motor (90) is rotated in the direction of loosening the wire (84). As a result, the wire (84) is loosened, the urging force of the urging means (82) returns the panda graph mechanism (80) to the opening direction (arrow E in FIG. 4), and the movable support part (75) is circular. It moves along the arcuate hole (72) in a direction away from the fixed support part (73).
As a result, the finger hook portions (122) and (124) of the forceps (120) disposed on the fixed support portion (73) and the movable support portion (75) are separated, and the forceps and the like are opened (arrow F in FIG. 1). .

To close the forceps (120), the treatment instrument opening / closing motor (90) is operated so that the drum (93) rotates in the wire winding direction. As a result, the panda graph mechanism (80) in the open state is folded against the urging force of the urging means (82) (arrow G in FIG. 4), and the movable support portion (75) is arc-shaped hole (72 ) Along the fixed support portion (73) side.
As a result, the finger hook portions (122) and (124) of the forceps (120) arranged on the fixed support portion (73) and the movable support portion (75) approach (arrow H in FIG. 1), and the forceps (120). The tip of is closed.

  The forceps (120) can maintain its state by stopping the treatment tool opening / closing motor (90) with a desired opening degree and cutting off the power to the electromagnetic clutch (94) as a brake means. .

  When it is necessary to rotate the forceps (120), the treatment instrument rotating motor (90) may be operated.

  Any of the motors (24), (34), (44), (66), and (90) have their rotation detected by the encoders (26), (36), (46), (68), and (92), and are sent to the control unit (100). You can give feedback.

  As described above, even when the finger hooks (122) (124) for opening and closing the forceps (120) are located away from the axis of the forceps (120), the electromagnetic clutch (51) (51) ( (55) (57), the holding means (61) can be fixed with respect to the lateral arm (30), so that the rotational moment generated when the forceps (120) is opened and closed can be absorbed. There is no load on the abdominal wall.

  The present invention has a mechanism for positioning an existing forceps formed at a position where a finger hook portion is deviated to one side with respect to an axis, and has a mechanism for opening and closing the forceps, and absorbs a rotating moment generated when the forceps are opened and closed. It is useful as a surgical manipulator capable of

(10) Surgical manipulator
(20) Vertical arm
(21) First vertical arm
(22) Second vertical arm
(30) Horizontal arm
(32) First horizontal arm
(42) Second horizontal arm
(50) Turntable
(60) Support base
(61) Holding means
(70) Opening / closing mechanism
(120) Forceps

Claims (5)

A support base having a holding means to which a forceps formed at a position where the finger hook portion is biased to one side with respect to the axial center can be mounted;
An opening and closing mechanism for opening and closing a finger hook portion of the forceps;
A turntable for holding the support table rotatably about a plurality of axes;
An arm for supporting the turntable in a plane and / or vertical direction so as to be linearly and / or rotationally operable;
A surgical manipulator comprising:
The rotating table has a lock mechanism for fixing rotation of the support table around each axis with respect to the arm portion.   The surgical manipulator according to claim 1, wherein the lock mechanism is an electromagnetic brake or an electromagnetic clutch.   The opening / closing mechanism includes a fixed support portion that fixes one finger hook portion of the forceps, and a movable support portion that supports the other finger hook portion of the forceps and that can slide the finger hook portion in the open / close direction. Or the surgical manipulator of Claim 2.   The surgical manipulator according to claim 3, wherein the movable support portion slides the finger hook portion in the opening / closing direction by a panda graph mechanism.   The surgical manipulator according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the support base is provided with a balancer that maintains a constant posture of the holding means with respect to the rotary base in an unloaded state.

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