Abstract: A drive unit according to an embodiment may include: a first gear that rotates about a first axis; a second gear that rotates about a second axis extending in a direction perpendicular to the first axis; and a third gear that rotates about a third axis extending in a direction perpendicular to the first axis. Elongated elements in a shaft to operate a distal end part attached to the shaft include: a rigid first elongated element meshing with the second gear; and a rigid second elongated element meshing with the third gear. The second and third gears mesh with the first gear. The distal end part is operated in such a manner that as the first gear rotates, the first elongated element moves in a longitudinal direction of the shaft while the second elongated element moves in a direction opposite to the direction in which the first elongated element moves.

Abstract: The embodiment relates to an optical connection component including a bent optical fiber having a bent portion including a region where a curvature of the bent portion is maintained at 0.4 [1/mm] or more while substantially no bending stress remains. The bent optical fiber comprises a core, a first cladding, a second cladding, and a third cladding. Based on the third cladding, a relative refractive index difference ?1 of the core, a relative refractive index difference ?2 of the first cladding, and a relative refractive index difference ?3 of the second cladding satisfy relationships of ?1>?2>?3 and ?3 <?0.5[%]. The product V3 of the ?3 and a cross-sectional area S of the second cladding is less than ?200 [%·?m2]. The curvature in the bent portion is 0.6 [1/mm] or less over an entire length of the bent portion.

Abstract: Provided is a method for producing a multicore optical fiber (MCF) in which variations in positions of cores relative to the outer shape of the MCF are small. The method includes: an integrating step of heating a common cladding tube and a core rods, thereby integrating the tube with the core rods to form a core-cladding composite body including a plurality of cores and a common cladding and having a noncircular cross-sectional shape; an outline detecting step of detecting the outline of the composite body; an optical fiber preform forming step of machining the outer circumferential surface of the composite body using results obtained in the outline detecting step to form the preform having a flat surface; and a drawing step of drawing one end of the preform under heating to obtain the MCF. Also provided is a MCF for which a rotation alignment operation is easily performed.

Abstract: A medical system according to one or more embodiments may include a memory, a robotic operation table top, and a controller. The robotic operation table includes a table top and a robot arm supporting the table top. The controller gives the robot arm a command to move the table top to positions corresponding to the medical processes. The robot arm includes a plurality of joints, a plurality of movable elements connected by the plurality of joints to one another, and a plurality of electric actuators and a plurality of position detectors. At least one of the plurality of joints is a horizontally-rotating joint which couples two movable elements among the plurality of movable elements to each other so as to be rotatable about a vertical axis. The positions corresponding to the medical processes include a placement position, an imaging position, and a surgery position.

Abstract: Disclosed is a medical robot system including medical robots placed at different locations and a data analysis apparatus. Each of the medical robots includes a controller that transmits data on a state of operation of the medical robot to the data analysis apparatus. The data analysis apparatus includes a data analysis unit that generates a reference for determining whether or not the medical robots are normal, based on the data transmitted from the medical robots. The data analysis unit monitors the data transmitted from each of the medical robots in operation based on the reference.

Abstract: A surgical system includes a robot main body, a slave controller, a display device that displays an endoscopic image, and an manipulation input device. The robot main body includes an entry guide having a plurality of guide bores, an entry guide support device that supports the entry guide, an instrument manipulator that has a surgical instrument provided at a distal end and is inserted into the entry guide, and an endoscope manipulator that has an endoscopic camera provided at a distal end and is inserted into the entry guide. The slave controller operates the robot main body such that the surgical instrument advances from an exit of the entry guide after the endoscopic camera advances from the exit of the entry guide and starts capturing in response to a body cavity insertion command received by the manipulation input device.

Abstract: A surgical system includes a surgical assist robot including a robot main body and a slave controller, and a console. The robot main body has an entry guide, an entry guide support device, and at least one manipulator having an end effector provided at a distal end. The entry guide includes an inner cylinder, an outer cylinder into which the inner cylinder is inserted in an insertion axial direction, and a guide advancing device that displaces the inner cylinder in the insertion axial direction with respect to the outer cylinder. While a position and a posture of the end effector that has advanced from the entry guide are maintained, the inner cylinder is caused to advance toward the end effector within a predetermined movable range along the insertion axial direction with respect to the outer cylinder.

Abstract: A surgical system includes: a tool manipulator having a tool manipulator arm configured to perform translational motion and rotational motion of a distal end with respect to a proximal end and a surgical tool linked to the distal end of the tool manipulator arm; a console having a handling tool configured to receive a tool movement command of a surgeon for the surgical tool, the tool movement command including a translation amount of the translational motion and a rotation amount of the rotational motion for the surgical tool; and a controller configured to control the tool manipulator.

Abstract: A method for manufacturing a multicore optical fiber includes a step of forming ring-shaped closed-end holes to axially extend from a first end toward a second end of a glass rod; a step of heating bottom parts of the ring-shaped closed-end holes and softening center rods surrounded by the ring-shaped closed-end holes; a step of pulling out the center rods toward a side of the first end, forming columnar closed-end holes from the ring-shaped closed-end holes, and treating the glass rod as a cladding material; a connecting step of connecting a supporting pipe to the first end; an inserting step of inserting core rods into the columnar closed-end holes after the connecting step; and a drawing step of drawing the cladding material and the core rods while heating a portion near the second end and integrating the cladding material and the core rods after the inserting step.

Abstract: Provided is an optical fiber manufacturing method that uses a low-cost large optical fiber preform having high precision. The optical fiber manufacturing method includes at least a positioning step of positioning core rods in a hollow carbon pipe that contains carbon as a main component, a soot preform preparation step of filling a gap between the carbon pipe and the core rods with silica powder that contains SiO2 as a main component, thereby producing a soot preform, a consolidating step of introducing the soot preform into a furnace and consolidating the silica powder, thereby producing a transparent intermediate preform from the soot preform, an extraction step of extracting the transparent intermediate preform from the carbon pipe, and a drawing step of drawing the transparent intermediate preform, thereby manufacturing an optical fiber.

Abstract: Provided is a method for producing a multicore optical fiber (MCF) in which variations in positions of cores relative to the outer shape of the MCF are small. The method includes: an integrating step of heating a common cladding tube and a core rods, thereby integrating the tube with the core rods to form a core-cladding composite body including a plurality of cores and a common cladding and having a noncircular cross-sectional shape; an outline detecting step of detecting the outline of the composite body; an optical fiber preform forming step of machining the outer circumferential surface of the composite body using results obtained in the outline detecting step to form the preform having a flat surface; and a drawing step of drawing one end of the preform under heating to obtain the MCF. Also provided is a MCF for which a rotation alignment operation is easily performed.

Abstract: An optical connection component 1 includes an optical fiber 10 having a bent portion BA, and a fiber fixing part 20. The optical fiber 10 includes a glass fiber 11 and a resin coating 12. The fiber fixing part 20 includes an optical array member 24 and a protective resin 23. A distal end of the glass fiber 11 and an end surface of the optical array member 24 form a reference surface S. The bent portion BA is formed in a region including the exposed glass fiber 11. A predetermined section in a region C, which continues from the bent portion BA on a 10 side opposite to an end portion of the optical fiber 10 supported by the fiber fixing part 20 with the bent portion BA interposed therebetween, is inclined to approach the reference surface S while going away from the bent portion BA.

Abstract: The present embodiment relates to a CMCF including a structure to achieve more efficient reduction in transmission loss by suppressing decrease in concentration of alkali metal due to diffusion of alkali metal. In the CMCF including a plurality of cores, a power coupling coefficient h between adjacent cores is set to 1×10?3/m or more, to maintain an optical coupling state between the adjacent cores. In addition, alkali metal contributing to reduction in transmission loss is added to each of the cores such that a stress maximum value ?_max between adjacent cores has a negative value.

Abstract: A tool magazine includes a magazine arm and a gripper plate. The magazine arm has a tool pot to hold a tool. The magazine arm is pivotable around a pivotal axis such that the tool pot pivots around the pivotal axis. The gripper plate has at least one gripper to hold the tool at a holding position on a circular arc track along which the tool moves when the magazine arm pivots. The at least one gripper is open in a tangent direction of the circular arc track at the holding position.

Abstract: A treatment tool unit according to one or more embodiments may be attachable to an actuation unit including an actuation-side shaft which accommodates rigid actuation-side elongate elements. The treatment tool unit may include: a distal end portion; flexible elongate elements coupled to the distal end portion to manipulate the distal end portion; rigid distal end-side elongate elements each including a first end coupled to a corresponding one of the flexible elongate elements and a second end capable of being coupled to a corresponding one of the actuation-side elongate elements; a distal end-side shaft which accommodates the rigid distal end-side elongate elements and is attachable to the actuation-side shaft; and a distal end-side movement restricting portion which restricts movements of the distal end-side elongate elements with respect to the distal end-side shaft toward the distal end portion in an axial direction of the distal end-side shaft.

Abstract: The present embodiment achieves effective height reduction of an entire optical connection component constituted by a bent optical fiber and a fiber fixing component. The fiber fixing component includes a first portion and a second portion which constitute the holding portion in a state of being arranged in a manner interposing an installation plane in order to hold one of non-bent sections positioned at both ends of a bent portion in a state where the one of non-bent sections is arranged on the installation plane. Total lengths of the first portion and the second portion are different from each other, and effective height reduction of the entire optical connection component can be achieved by arranging the bent portion in a stepped portion formed by the total length difference.

Abstract: A surgical system capable of securing a large movable range of a tip end of a surgical instrument even when the surgical instrument is inserted into a narrow region. One example of the surgical system includes: a manipulator ; a surgical instrument including a shaft coupled to a tip end portion of the manipulator; a manipulation input portion to which an operator inputs a command regarding a position and posture of the surgical instrument; a control apparatus configured to control an operation of the manipulator based on the command input to the manipulation input portion; and a motion center position setting portion configured to set a desired position as a motion center position of the surgical instrument in the control apparatus, the desired position being located in an inner part under a body surface of the patient.

Abstract: Simulated are postures each formed by a manipulator arm and a surgical instrument when a tip end portion of the surgical instrument is located at a three-dimensional position of each lattice point in a lattice model set so as to correspond to the manipulator arm, the surgical instrument being held by the manipulator arm. Extracted is such a combination of the lattice points in the lattice models that the postures interfere with each other. Data of the combination which causes the interference is stored in a storage portion. It is determined whether or not an operating command transferred to a control portion corresponds to the combination which causes the interference. When it is determined that the operating command corresponds to the combination which causes the interference, the control portion executes interference preventing processing.

Abstract: An optical connector includes an optical fiber, a ferrule holding the optical fiber, and a plug frame accommodating the ferrule. The optical fiber includes a glass fiber and a resin coating surrounding the glass fiber. The ferrule has a through-hole inside the ferrule and a flange outside the ferrule. The flange has a quadrangular cross-section perpendicular to the through-hole. The ferrule holds the glass fiber in the through-hole. The plug frame has a quadrangular tubular cross-section perpendicular to the through-hole. In one aspect, the flange has first and second faces opposing each other with the through-hole there between and third and fourth faces opposing each other with the through-hole there between and orthogonal to the first and second faces. The plug frame has two alignment parts capable of supporting the first and second faces, and there are clearances between the plug frame and the third and fourth faces.

Abstract: An optical connector includes an optical fiber including a glass fiber and a resin coating surrounding the glass fiber; a ferrule having a flange outside the ferrule and holding, inside the ferrule, a portion of the glass fiber exposed from the resin coating at an end of the optical fiber; a plug frame accommodating the ferrule; and an elastic member abutting the flange and biasing the ferrule forward in an optical axis direction of the optical fiber to retain the ferrule inside the plug frame. The flange and the plug frame have a protrusion and a recess that allow the flange and the plug frame to be fitted to each other at the predetermined position. When the ferrule is moved rearward in the optical axis direction, the protrusion and the recess are released from each other to bring the ferrule into a floating state relative to the plug frame.