JP2021029544A - Movement mechanism for robot arm - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a movement mechanism for robot arms with which positions of surgical instruments fitted to the robot arms can be easily changed without exchanging the surgical instruments.SOLUTION: A movement mechanism 30 for robot arms includes: a plurality of robot arms 24, 26, 28 holding surgical instruments respectively; and a stage 38 rotatably supporting base parts 24a, 26a, 28a of the plurality of robot arms respectively; and a robot main body rotatably supporting the stage. The stage 38 moves the plurality of robot arms 24, 26, 28 together with respect to the robot main body, and rotates the plurality of robot arms 24, 26, 28, so that an order of arrangement of the plurality of robot arms can be changed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a moving mechanism of a robot arm used in a medical surgical tool.

Conventionally, various surgical manipulators have been devised as one of industrial robots for the purpose of substituting human manual work. For example, a master control device operated by an operator and a slave control device in which a signal converted by the master control device according to the operator's operation is input and supports a surgical procedure of a patient via a manipulator. A robotic surgery system is known (see Patent Document 1).

JP-A-2019-88815

The robotic surgery system described above has two or more robot arms, each of which is equipped with a surgical instrument (manipulator). In such a robotic surgery system, when the surgical instrument held by a predetermined robot arm is used at the position of another robot arm, it is a good idea to detach and replace the surgical instrument.

However, when trying to replace different types of surgical instruments (for example, endoscopes and forceps) held by each robot arm, each robot arm needs an attachment shape and a feeding part corresponding to multiple types of surgical instruments. , It tends to be more complicated than a single-function robot arm.

The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and one of its exemplary purposes is a robot arm that can easily change the position of a surgical instrument attached to a robot arm without exchanging the surgical instrument. Is to provide a moving mechanism for.

In order to solve the above problems, the moving mechanism of the robot arm according to an embodiment of the present invention has a plurality of robot arms each holding a surgical instrument and a stage that rotatably supports the bases of the plurality of robot arms. And a robot body that rotatably supports the stage. The stage is configured so that the arrangement order of the plurality of robot arms can be changed by moving a plurality of robot arms together with respect to the robot body and rotating each of the plurality of robot arms.

According to this aspect, the position of the surgical instrument can be easily changed by moving a plurality of robot arms together.

The stage may have a rotation axis on which the stage rotates with respect to the robot body, and a plurality of support portions that support each of the plurality of bases and are arranged so as to surround the rotation axis. As a result, the position of the surgical instrument can be changed by rotating each base of the robot arm around the support portion while rotating the stage.

The plurality of robot arms are three, and the three support portions may be arranged so that their centers are located at the vertices of an equilateral triangle.

The plurality of robot arms may have two first robot arms that each hold one of the first surgical instrument and the second surgical instrument used in pairs.

The plurality of robot arms may have a second robot arm that holds a third surgical instrument different from the first surgical instrument and the second surgical instrument.

The third surgical instrument may be an endoscope.

When looking in the direction of the stage from the base of the robot body, the order of the first surgical instrument and the second surgical instrument is changed by rotating the stage in the first direction around the rotation axis and combining multiple robot arms. Swap by rotating one of the two first robot arms in the first direction and rotating the other of the two first robot arms in the second direction opposite to the first direction. You may. As a result, the positions of the first surgical instrument and the second surgical instrument can be exchanged without the plurality of robot arms interfering with each other.

A control device having a pair of input units for remotely controlling the pair of first surgical instruments and the second surgical instrument may be further provided. When the positions of the pair of first surgical instruments and the second surgical instruments are interchanged with each other, the control device can remotely control the target from one of the pair of first surgical instruments and the second surgical instrument while using the pair of input units. It may be replaced with the other, and the object to be remotely operated by the other of the pair of input units may be replaced with one from the other of the pair of first surgical instruments and the second surgical instrument. As a result, the surgical instrument that can be seen on the left side of the image acquired by the endoscope becomes the target for remote operation with the left input part, and the surgical instrument that can be seen on the right side of the image becomes the target for remote operation with the right input part. The confusion of the surgeon due to the replacement can be eliminated.

It should be noted that any combination of the above components and the conversion of the expression of the present invention between methods, devices, systems, etc. are also effective as aspects of the present invention.

According to the present invention, the position of the surgical instrument attached to the robot arm can be easily changed without exchanging the surgical instrument.

It is a figure which shows the schematic structure of the master-slave type medical manipulator system which concerns on this embodiment. 2 (a) to 2 (c) are schematic views for explaining how the positions of the plurality of robot arms are changed. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the moving mechanism of the robot arm which concerns on modification 2. FIG. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the moving mechanism of the robot arm which concerns on modification 3. FIG.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings based on the embodiments. The same or equivalent components, members, and processes shown in the drawings shall be designated by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted as appropriate. Further, the embodiment is not limited to the invention but is an example, and all the features and combinations thereof described in the embodiment are not necessarily essential to the invention.

(Master-slave type medical manipulator system)
The robot arm moving mechanism according to the present embodiment can be applied to robot systems in various fields using a plurality of arms, but in the following embodiments, it is applied to a medical manipulator system in one of the fields. A suitable example will be described.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a master-slave type medical manipulator system according to the present embodiment. The medical manipulator system 10 is actually operated by a slave-side robot body 14 that drives a surgical instrument necessary for performing an operation on a patient lying on an operating table 12 by a motor, air pressure, or the like, and an operator 16. It includes a master side operation input device 20 having left and right operation arms 18R and 18L, and a monitor 22 for displaying an image of an endoscope included in a slave side robot main body 14.

The medical manipulator system 10 is held by a plurality of robot arms 24, 26, 28 of the slave side robot main body 14 by operating the operation arms 18R, 18L while the surgeon 16 confirms the surgical field on the monitor 22. You can perform remote-controlled surgery using the surgical instruments you have. Further, by reducing the ratio of the displacement amount of the robot arm to the operation amount of the operation arms 18R and 18L, minute movements of the surgical instrument can be performed with high accuracy.

(Robot arm movement mechanism)
The slave-side robot body 14 according to the present embodiment includes a moving mechanism 30 that simultaneously moves a plurality of robot arms 24, 26, 28. The moving mechanism 30 includes a robot arm 24, 26 in which the forceps 32, 34 are held at the tip, a robot arm 28 in which the endoscope 36 is held, and bases 24a, 26a of the robot arms 24, 26, 28, respectively. , 28a is provided with a stage 38 that rotatably supports the stage 38, and a main arm 40 of a robot body that rotatably supports the stage 38.

2 (a) to 2 (c) are schematic views for explaining how the positions of the plurality of robot arms are changed. The state of the stage 38 shown in FIG. 2A corresponds to the state of the stage of FIG. Further, when the surgical field S is photographed by the endoscope 36, the forceps 32 are located on the left side of the monitor 22 and the forceps 34 are located on the right side, and the operator 16 remotely controls the forceps 32 with the operation arm 18L. Operate and remotely control the forceps 34 with the operation arm 18R.

When it is desired to change the position of the endoscope 36 from the state of FIG. 2A (for example, when it is desired to take a picture from the outside of the forceps 34), simply moving the robot arm 26 and the robot arm 28 causes the arms to intersect with each other. Will interfere or interfere.

Therefore, the stage 38 according to the present embodiment rotates and moves the robot arms 24, 26, and 28 together with respect to the robot body, and further rotates the robot arms 24, 26, and 28 around the base, respectively. , The order of the robot arms 24, 26, 28 can be changed.

Specifically, the stage 38 supports a rotation shaft 42 on which the stage 38 rotates with respect to the robot body, and a plurality of support portions arranged so as to surround the rotation shaft 42 by supporting the bases 24a, 26a, and 28a, respectively. It has 38a, 38b, and 38c. Then, the stage 38 is rotationally moved (rotated by 120 °) in the direction of arrow R1 with respect to the robot body, and the three robot arms 24, 26, and 28 are brought into the state shown in FIG. 2 (b).

After that, the robot arms 24 and 28 are rotated in the direction of arrow R2 (clockwise in FIG. 2B) around the support portions 38a and 38c that support the base portions 24a and 28a, and the support portion 38b that supports the base portion 26a is centered. The robot arm 26 is rotated in the direction of arrow R3 (counterclockwise in FIG. 2B). As a result, as shown in FIG. 2C, the arrangement order of the robot arms 24, 26, 28 is changed with respect to the arrangement order shown in FIG. 2A. Further, due to the change in the arrangement order of the robot arms 24, 26, 28, the endoscope 36 is located outside the forceps 32, and the forceps 34 are located on the opposite side of the endoscope 36 with the forceps 32 in between.

As described above, in the moving mechanism 30 according to the present embodiment, the base portions 24a, 26a, 28a of the robot arms 24, 26, 28 rotate around the support portions 38a, 38b, 38c while rotating the stage 38. By doing so, the positions of the forceps 32, 34 and the endoscope 36 can be easily changed.

There are three robot arms according to the present embodiment, and the three support portions 38a, 38b, and 38c are arranged so that their centers are located at the vertices of an equilateral triangle. In this case, the rotation angles of the robot arms 24 and 28 in the arrow R2 direction shown in FIG. 2B described above are 120 °, and the rotation angle of the robot arm 26 in the arrow R3 direction is 240 °.

Further, the robot arms 24 and 26 according to the present embodiment are used as two first robot arms that hold either the forceps 32 as the first surgical instrument and the forceps 34 as the second surgical instrument used in pairs. Function. Further, the robot arm 28 functions as a second robot arm that holds the endoscope 36 as a third surgical instrument different from the first surgical instrument and the second surgical instrument.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 2A to 2C, the moving mechanism 30 according to the present embodiment rotates the stage 38 counterclockwise (in the direction of arrow R1) about the rotation axis 42. The robot arms 24, 26, 28 are moved together, and the robot arm 26 of the two first robot arms, the robot arms 24, 26, is rotated counterclockwise (in the direction of arrow R3), and the two first robot arms. By rotating the robot arm 24 clockwise (in the direction of arrow R2), the order of the forceps 32 and 34 when the direction (arrow) of the stage 38 is viewed from the base of the slave-side robot body 14 is changed. be able to. As a result, the positions of the forceps 32 and 34 can be exchanged without the robot arms 24 and 26 interfering with each other.

The master-side operation input device 20 is a control device having operation arms 18L and 18R which are input units for remotely controlling a pair of forceps 32 and 34. In the states shown in FIG. 2A, the forceps 32 and 34 of the operation arms 18L and 18R are the targets of remote control, respectively. However, when the state shown in FIG. 2C is reached due to the movement of the robot arm, the target of remote control of the operation arm 18L operated by the operator 16 with the left hand is the forceps 32 located on the right side of the monitor 22, and the operator 16 The target of remote control of the operation arm 18R operated by the right hand is the forceps 34 located on the left side of the monitor 22. Therefore, the left and right hands operated by the surgeon 16 and the left and right forceps actually operated remotely are reversed, which may cause confusion in the operation.

Therefore, when the master-side operation input device 20 detects that the positions of the pair of forceps 32 and 34 have been exchanged with each other by the moving mechanism 30, the target to be remotely controlled by the operation arm 18L is exchanged from the forceps 32 to the forceps 34. The target to be remotely controlled by the operation arm 18R is replaced with the forceps 32 from the forceps 34. As a result, the forceps 34 seen on the left side of the image acquired by the endoscope 36 becomes the target to be remotely controlled by the operation arm 18L, and the forceps 32 seen on the right side of the image becomes the target to be remotely controlled by the operation arm 18R, and the surgical instruments are replaced. Can eliminate the confusion of the surgeon. In other words, even if the order of the surgical instruments is changed due to the movement of the robot arm, it is possible to prevent the operator 16 from being confused about the operation by the master side operation input device 20.

(Modification example 1)
In the above-described embodiment, the case where the number of robot arms is three has been described, but the moving mechanism of the robot arm according to the present embodiment can be applied even when the number of robot arms is four or more. In the robot arm moving mechanism according to the first modification, the four support portions are arranged so that their centers are located at the vertices of a regular quadrangle. In this case, for example, the stage is rotated counterclockwise (90 °) with respect to the robot body, then three robot arms are rotated 90 ° clockwise, and one robot arm is rotated counterclockwise 270. By rotating and moving, the order of the four robot arms can be changed.

(Modification 2)
Next, a case where the number of robot arms is two will be described. FIG. 3 is a schematic view for explaining the moving mechanism of the robot arm according to the second modification. The robot arm moving mechanism 50 shown in FIG. 3 is a part of a medical manipulator system of a type suspended on a ceiling 52. A slave-side robot body 54 that drives and controls each part of the moving mechanism 50 is arranged above the ceiling 52.

The moving mechanism 50 includes a rotating shaft 56 connected to the slave-side robot main body 54, a stage 58 that rotates together with the rotating shaft 56 supported by the slave-side robot main body 54, and two robots provided on the lower surface 58a of the stage 58. The arms 60 and 62 and the surgical field camera 64 provided on the lower surface 58a of the stage 58 and arranged between the bases 60a and 62a of the robot arms 60 and 62, respectively, are provided. A first forceps 66 is held at the tip of the robot arm 60, and a second forceps 68 having a function and shape different from that of the first forceps 66 is held at the tip of the robot arm 62.

An image of the surgical field of the patient 70 taken by the surgical field camera 64 is displayed on, for example, the monitor 22 shown in FIG. While checking the surgical field on the monitor 22, the surgeon 16 operates the operation arm (see FIG. 1 to operate the first forceps 66 and the first forceps 66 held by the plurality of robot arms 60 and 62 of the slave-side robot body 54. A remote operation can be performed using the second forceps 68.

Further, since the moving mechanism 50 according to the second modification can change the arrangement order of the robot arms 60 and 62 by rotating the stage 58 around the rotation axis 56, the patient 70 of the first forceps 66 and the second forceps 68 The insertion position into the can be easily changed.

(Modification example 3)
Next, a case where there are a plurality of moving mechanisms 50 described in the second modification will be described. FIG. 4 is a schematic view for explaining the moving mechanism of the robot arm according to the modified example 3. Note that in FIG. 4, the slave-side robot body is not shown. Further, the same components as those in FIG. 3 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted as appropriate.

The two moving mechanisms 50 shown in FIG. 4 can move the positions of the four forceps in total. As a result, the position of each forceps to be inserted into the patient 70 can be easily changed.

The medical manipulator system provided with the moving mechanism of the robot arm according to the present embodiment and the modified example is compared with a system in which the type and position of the surgical instrument are changed by exchanging the surgical instrument held by the robot arm. , Has the following effects.

As described above, in the case of the method of exchanging different types of surgical instruments held by each robot arm, each robot arm needs an attachment shape and a feeding part corresponding to multiple types of surgical instruments, and a single-function robot. It tends to be more complicated than the arm. On the other hand, in the medical manipulator system according to the present embodiment, since it is not necessary to replace the surgical instrument held by the robot arm, the configuration of the robot arm can be simplified to the extent that the corresponding surgical instrument functions.

Further, since the positional relationship of each robot arm with respect to the robot body can be changed only by rotating the robot arm or the stage, for example, the degree of freedom in the position of each surgical instrument in surgery using an endoscope is increased.

Although the present invention has been described above with reference to the above-described embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the configuration of the embodiment may be appropriately combined or replaced. It is included in the present invention. Further, it is also possible to appropriately rearrange the combination and the order of processing in the embodiment based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art, and to add modifications such as various design changes to the embodiment, and such modifications are added. The embodiments described may also be included in the scope of the present invention.

10 Medical manipulator system, 12 Operating table, 14 Slave side robot body, 16 Operator, 18L, 18R operation arm, 20 Master side operation input device, 22 Monitor, 24 Robot arm, 24a base, 26 Robot arm, 26a base, 28 Robot arm, 30 movement mechanism, 32, 34 forceps, 36 endoscope, 38 stage, 38a, 38b support, 40 main arm, 42 rotation axis.

Claims (8)

Multiple robot arms, each holding a surgical instrument,
A stage that rotatably supports the bases of each of the plurality of robot arms,
A robot body that rotatably supports the stage is provided.
The stage is configured so that the arrangement order of the plurality of robot arms can be changed by moving the plurality of robot arms together with respect to the robot body and rotating each of the plurality of robot arms. Robot arm movement mechanism. The stage is characterized by having a rotation axis on which the stage rotates with respect to the robot body, and a plurality of support portions that support each of the plurality of base portions and are arranged so as to surround the rotation axis. The robot arm moving mechanism according to claim 1. The plurality of robot arms are three.
The robot arm moving mechanism according to claim 2, wherein the three support portions are arranged so that their respective centers are located at the vertices of an equilateral triangle. The robot arm according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the plurality of robot arms have two first robot arms that each hold one of a first surgical instrument and a second surgical instrument used in a pair. Movement mechanism. The robot arm moving mechanism according to claim 4, wherein the plurality of robot arms have a second robot arm that holds the first surgical instrument and a third surgical instrument different from the second surgical instrument. .. The robot arm moving mechanism according to claim 5, wherein the third surgical instrument is an endoscope. When the stage is viewed from the base of the robot body, the order of the first surgical instrument and the second surgical instrument is changed by rotating the stage in the first direction around the rotation axis. The plurality of robot arms are moved together, one of the two first robot arms is rotated in the first direction, and the other of the two first robot arms is opposite to the first direction. The moving mechanism of a robot arm according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the robot arm is replaced by rotating in a second direction. A control device having a pair of the first surgical instrument and a pair of input units for remotely controlling the second surgical instrument is further provided.
In the control device, when the positions of the pair of the first surgical instruments and the second surgical instruments are interchanged with each other, the pair of the first surgical instruments and the first surgical instrument and the target to be remotely operated by one of the pair of the input units are operated. 2. Claim 7 characterized in that one of the surgical instruments is replaced with the other, and the object to be remotely operated by the other of the pair of input units is replaced with one from the other of the pair of the first surgical instrument and the second surgical instrument. The movement mechanism of the robot arm described in 1.

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