Abstract: Apparatus and related methods for assisting tool use includes one or more motors, a wrist support and a shaft coupled to the one or more motors. The shaft includes a coupling to couple to a tool to enable a user resting a hand with the wrist on the wrist support to hold and manipulate the tool with one or more fingers. The apparatus can include a controller configured to: receive position data indicative of a position of an active end of the tool; receive constraint data indicative of one or more regions of space in which the active end should not be positioned; and process the position and constraint data to control the one or more motors to bias the active end out of a region indicated by the constraint data when a position indicated by the position data is within the region indicated by the constraint data.

Abstract: Apparatus and related methods for assisting tool use includes one or more motors, a wrist support and a shaft coupled to the one or more motors. The shaft includes a coupling to couple to a tool to enable a user resting a hand with the wrist on the wrist support to hold and manipulate the tool with one or more fingers. The apparatus can include a controller configured to: receive position data indicative of a position of an active end of the tool; receive constraint data indicative of one or more regions of space in which the active end should not be positioned; and process the position and constraint data to control the one or more motors to bias the active end out of a region indicated by the constraint data when a position indicated by the position data is within the region indicated by the constraint data.

Abstract: An active-constraint robot (4), particularly for surgical use, is controlled by means of a series of motorized joints to provide a surgeon with real-time tactile feedback of an operation in progress. The robot system holds, in memory, a series of constraint surfaces beyond which it would be dangerous for the surgeon to go, and a resistive force is applied to the cutting tool (14) as the surgeon approaches any such surface. To improve the overall quality of feedback experienced by the surgeon, the resistive force applied to the cutting tool (14) depends upon the point of intersection (I) between the force factor applied by the surgeon and the surface. Further improvements are achieved by adjusting the tangential resistive force, when the tool is adjacent to the surface, in dependence upon the surrounding shape of the surface.

Abstract: An active-constraint robot (4), particularly for surgical use, is controlled by means of a series of motorised joints to provide a surgeon with real-time tactile feedback of an operation in progress. The robot system holds, in memory, a series of constraint surfaces beyond which it would be dangerous for the surgeon to go, and a resistive force is applied to the cutting tool (14) as the surgeon approaches any such surface. To improve the overall quality of feedback experienced by the surgeon, the resistive force applied to the cutting tool (14) depends upon the point of intersection (I) between the force factor applied by the surgeon and the surface. Further improvements are achieved by adjusting the tangential resistive force, when the tool is adjacent to the surface, in dependence upon the surrounding shape of the surface.

Abstract: A training system for training a user in the operation of a tool comprises a two-axis actively-constrained computer-controlled motorised table (1000) which has a grip member (2000) attached to a pen (3000). In use, the system provides active constraint to a user, allowing the pen (3000) to move only within a narrow region of permitted motion. As the user becomes more proficient, the system gradually allows the user more freedom. In that way, the user becomes more proficient in performing certain physical motions. The system finds particular although not exclusive applicable in the training of surgeons, specifically in surgical implant procedures.

Abstract: The invention in its various forms relates generally to surgical planning methods, and in particular to the planning of surgical operations to implant a prosthesis. In a first embodiment, the surgeon uses an interactive system to design both the shape of the prosthesis and the shape of the bone. In a second embodiment, a modified Marching Cubes algorithm is used to simulate cutting planes within bones. In a third embodiment, back-projection is used within a computer model to allow an integrated display of both bone and prosthesis. In a fourth embodiment, an interactive system is used to test the mobility of a proposed implant, prior to undertaking a surgical operation.