ACTIVE DRIVE MECHANISM FOR SIMULTANEOUS ROTATION AND TRANSLATION
An exemplary drive apparatus is disclosed having a roller assembly configured to impart axial motion to the elongate member along a first continuous surface configured to maintain contact with the elongate member during axial motion. The drive apparatus may further include a roller support configured to rotate the roller assembly, thereby imparting rotational motion to the elongate member. The roller support may be configured to rotate the roller assembly about a second continuous surface configured to maintain contact with the roller support during rotational motion. Moreover, the roller assembly and roller support may be configured to impart axial and rotational motion independently of one another, such that a first one of the roller assembly and the roller support imparts their associated motion regardless of a presence or absence of motion by the other of the roller assembly and the roller support.
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Robotic interventional systems and devices are well suited for performing minimally invasive medical procedures as opposed to conventional techniques wherein the patient's body cavity is open to permit the surgeon's hands access to internal organs. However, advances in technology have led to significant changes in the field of medical surgery such that less invasive surgical procedures, in particular, minimally invasive surgery (MIS), are increasingly popular.
MIS is generally defined as surgery that is performed by entering the body through the skin, a body cavity, or an anatomical opening utilizing small incisions rather than large, open incisions in the body. With MIS, it is possible to achieve less operative trauma for the patient, reduced hospitalization time, less pain and scarring, reduced incidence of complications related to surgical trauma, lower costs, and a speedier recovery.
Special medical equipment may be used to perform MIS procedures. Typically, a surgeon inserts small tubes or ports into a patient and uses endoscopes or laparoscopes having a fiber optic camera, light source, or miniaturized surgical instruments. Without a traditional large and invasive incision, the surgeon is not able to see directly into the patient. Thus, the video camera serves as the surgeon's eyes. The images of the interior of the body are transmitted to an external video monitor to allow a surgeon to analyze the images, make a diagnosis, visually identify internal features, and perform surgical procedures based on the images presented on the monitor.
MIS devices and techniques have advanced to the point where an insertion and rolling motion of components of an elongated component such as a catheter instrument, e.g., a catheter sheath and associated guidewire, are generally controllable by selectively operating rollers or other mechanisms for generally gripping the component. Some known mechanisms use gripping devices capable of infinite motion for translation, e.g., a roller, may require complex catheter component loading procedures, or may not be compatible with replaceable components adapted for a sterile operating environment.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for systems and methods for inserting and rolling catheter components that address or solve the above problems.
SUMMARYAn exemplary drive apparatus is disclosed having a roller assembly configured to impart axial motion to the elongate member along a first continuous surface configured to maintain contact with the elongate member during axial motion. The drive apparatus may further include a roller support configured to rotate the roller assembly, thereby imparting rotational motion to the elongate member. The roller support may be configured to rotate the roller assembly about a second continuous surface configured to maintain contact with the roller support during rotational motion. Moreover, the roller assembly and roller support may be configured to impart axial and rotational motion independently of one another, such that a first one of the roller assembly and the roller support imparts their associated motion regardless of a presence or absence of motion by the other of the roller assembly and the roller support.
While the claims are not limited to the illustrated embodiments, an appreciation of various aspects is best gained through a discussion of various examples thereof. Referring now to the drawings, illustrative embodiments are shown in detail. Although the drawings represent the embodiments, the drawings are not necessarily to scale and certain features may be exaggerated to better illustrate and explain an innovative aspect of an embodiment. Further, the embodiments described herein are not intended to be exhaustive or otherwise limiting or restricting to the precise form and configuration shown in the drawings and disclosed in the following detailed description. Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described in detail by referring to the drawings as follows.
Referring now to the drawings, illustrative embodiments are shown in detail. Although the drawings represent the embodiments, the drawings are not necessarily to scale and certain features may be exaggerated to better illustrate and explain an innovative aspect of an embodiment. Further, the embodiments described herein are not intended to be exhaustive or otherwise limit or restrict the invention to the precise form and configuration shown in the drawings and disclosed in the following detailed description.
Referring to
System components may be coupled together via a plurality of cables or other suitable connectors 118 to provide for data communication, or one or more components may be equipped with wireless communication components to reduce or eliminate cables 118. Communication between components may also be implemented over a network or over the interne. In this manner, a surgeon or other operator may control a surgical instrument while being located away from or remotely from radiation sources, thereby decreasing radiation exposure. Because of the option for wireless or networked operation, the surgeon may even be located remotely from the patient in a different room or building.
Referring now to
Referring now to
During use the instrument 109 may be used to manipulate an elongate member included in the catheter assembly 102, e.g., a catheter guidewire (not shown in
Turning now to
The disposable portion 402 may include a roller assembly, e.g., comprising one or more rollers 483 that are configured to impart axial motion to the elongate member along a first continuous surface. For example, as best seen in
Turning now to
Referring now to
The roller assembly may be supported in a roller support configured to rotate the rollers about an axis perpendicular to the spindles 484 of the rollers 483. For example, the spindle 484a of the roller 483a may be supported in a saddle 474 that is engaged with an interior surface of one of the clamps 401, 403 (not shown in
The disposable device 402 may further comprise gear halves 426a, 426b which define an inner toothed surface 489 engaging a drive pinion 477 (see
The driving mechanism 404, as best seen in
The drive apparatus 400 may generally integrate a plurality of actuating mechanisms together. The drive apparatus 400 may include a mechanism for opening and closing to facilitate loading and unloading of an elongate member, e.g., a guidewire or a catheter. As will be described further below, the clamps 401, 403 may generally be opened to allow top loading of an elongate member, and may thereby facilitate loading of the elongate member without requiring threading the elongate member axially through the drive apparatus 400. The drive apparatus may also include a mechanism for inserting and retracting the elongate member, i.e., in an axial direction. Moreover, the drive apparatus 400 also includes a mechanism for imparting rotational motion to the elongate member. Additionally, as will be described further below, the drive apparatus 400 may provide axial motion and rotational motion simultaneously, and in an “infinite” manner. More specifically, as will be seen below the insertion and rotational motion is provided by continuous drive surfaces, e.g., the generally round or looped roller surfaces 485a, 485b and the toothed gear engagement between the drive pinion 477 and gear halves 426a, 426b. Accordingly, a generally continuous axial or rotational motion may be provided without releasing the elongate member during the motion. In other words, the rotational and insertion motions are not limited by any range of motion of the drive apparatus 400 or components thereof. Moreover, the rotational and axial motion may be provided independent of the other, i.e., one of or both of the rotational and axial motion may be applied to the elongate member at any given time.
Referring now to
Upon closure of the disposable portion 402, the elongate member may be held between the rollers 483a, 483b with a force that is generally limited by springs 473, as best seen in
Turning now to
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To enact simultaneous axial and rotational motion of the elongate member, shaft 456 (see
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Operator workstation 112, electronics rack 114 and/or drive apparatus 400 may include a computer or a computer readable storage medium implementing the operation of drive and implementing the various methods and processes described herein, e.g., process 1300. In general, computing systems and/or devices, such as the processor and the user input device, may employ any of a number of computer operating systems, including, but by no means limited to, versions and/or varieties of the Microsoft Windows® operating system, the Unix operating system (e.g., the Solaris® operating system distributed by Oracle Corporation of Redwood Shores, Calif.), the AIX UNIX operating system distributed by International Business Machines of Armonk, N.Y., the Linux operating system, the Mac OS X and iOS operating systems distributed by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., and the Android operating system developed by the Open Handset Alliance.
Computing devices generally include computer-executable instructions, where the instructions may be executable by one or more computing devices such as those listed above. Computer-executable instructions may be compiled or interpreted from computer programs created using a variety of programming languages and/or technologies, including, without limitation, and either alone or in combination, Java™, C, C++, Visual Basic, Java Script, Perl, etc. In general, a processor (e.g., a microprocessor) receives instructions, e.g., from a memory, a computer-readable medium, etc., and executes these instructions, thereby performing one or more processes, including one or more of the processes described herein. Such instructions and other data may be stored and transmitted using a variety of computer-readable media.
A computer-readable medium (also referred to as a processor-readable medium) includes any non-transitory (e.g., tangible) medium that participates in providing data (e.g., instructions) that may be read by a computer (e.g., by a processor of a computer). Such a medium may take many forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media and volatile media. Non-volatile media may include, for example, optical or magnetic disks and other persistent memory. Volatile media may include, for example, dynamic random access memory (DRAM), which typically constitutes a main memory. Such instructions may be transmitted by one or more transmission media, including coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise a system bus coupled to a processor of a computer. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EEPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other medium from which a computer can read.
Databases, data repositories or other data stores described herein may include various kinds of mechanisms for storing, accessing, and retrieving various kinds of data, including a hierarchical database, a set of files in a file system, an application database in a proprietary format, a relational database management system (RDBMS), etc. Each such data store is generally included within a computing device employing a computer operating system such as one of those mentioned above, and are accessed via a network in any one or more of a variety of manners. A file system may be accessible from a computer operating system, and may include files stored in various formats. An RDBMS generally employs the Structured Query Language (SQL) in addition to a language for creating, storing, editing, and executing stored procedures, such as the PL/SQL language mentioned above.
In some examples, system elements may be implemented as computer-readable instructions (e.g., software) on one or more computing devices (e.g., servers, personal computers, etc.), stored on computer readable media associated therewith (e.g., disks, memories, etc.). A computer program product may comprise such instructions stored on computer readable media for carrying out the functions described herein.
The drive apparatus 400 may advantageously use disposable materials in the construction of the disposable mechanism 402, e.g., an injection molded plastic material. Additionally, the disposable mechanism is relatively short in an axial direction associated with the elongate member, minimizing wasted length, i.e., the portion of the elongate member that must be gripped or held by the drive apparatus 400 during operation. The minimal length of the drive apparatus 400 may generally be due in part to the containment of the driving mechanisms of the disposable portion 402 within the clamps 401, 403. Additionally, the drive apparatus employs separate driving mechanisms, e.g., rollers 483a, 483b and the toothed gear engagement between the drive pinion 477 and gear halves 426a, 426b, that allow for independent control of the axial motion and rotational motion. Moreover, the drive apparatus mechanism 400 provides generally “infinite” motion due to the looped or round surfaces of the rollers 483a, 483b and the toothed gear engagement between the drive pinion 477 and gear halves 426a, 426b, thereby allowing for application of any magnitude of axial or rotational motion without having to release the elongate member. Accordingly, axial and rotational motion of the elongate member are not limited by any range of motion of the drive apparatus 400. Finally, the split clamps 401, 403 of the disposable portion allows for top loading of the elongate member, such that the elongate member need not be threaded through the drive mechanism during installation of the elongate member.
The exemplary illustrations are not limited to the previously described examples. Rather, a plurality of variants and modifications are possible, which also make use of the ideas of the exemplary illustrations and therefore fall within the protective scope. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive.
With regard to the processes, systems, methods, heuristics, etc. described herein, it should be understood that, although the steps of such processes, etc. have been described as occurring according to a certain ordered sequence, such processes could be practiced with the described steps performed in an order other than the order described herein. It further should be understood that certain steps could be performed simultaneously, that other steps could be added, or that certain steps described herein could be omitted. In other words, the descriptions of processes herein are provided for the purpose of illustrating certain embodiments, and should in no way be construed so as to limit the claimed invention.
Accordingly, it is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive. Many embodiments and applications other than the examples provided would be upon reading the above description. The scope of the invention should be determined, not with reference to the above description, but should instead be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. It is anticipated and intended that future developments will occur in the arts discussed herein, and that the disclosed systems and methods will be incorporated into such future embodiments. In sum, it should be understood that the invention is capable of modification and variation and is limited only by the following claims.
All terms used in the claims are intended to be given their broadest reasonable constructions and their ordinary meanings as understood by those skilled in the art unless an explicit indication to the contrary in made herein. In particular, use of the singular articles such as “a,” “the,” “the,” etc. should be read to recite one or more of the indicated elements unless a claim recites an explicit limitation to the contrary.
Claims
1. A drive apparatus for an elongated member, comprising:
- a roller assembly configured to impart axial motion to the elongate member; and
- a roller support configured to rotate the roller assembly, thereby imparting rotational motion to the elongate member;
- wherein the roller assembly and roller support are configured to impart axial and rotational motion independently of one another, such that a first one of the roller assembly and the roller support imparts their associated motion regardless of a presence or absence of motion by the other of the roller assembly and the roller support.
2. The drive apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a first continuous surface defined by a generally cylindrical roller included in the roller assembly.
3. The drive apparatus of claim 2, wherein the roller support is configured to rotate about a second generally continuous surface.
4. The drive apparatus of claim 1 wherein the roller assembly is configured to maintain continuous grip of the elongate member in the axial and rotational direction.
5. The drive apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a pair of clamps selectively surrounding the roller assembly and the roller support.
6. The drive apparatus of claim 5, wherein the clamps selectively open to define a gap along an upper portion of the drive apparatus, allowing the elongate member to be received through the gap and within the rollers in a direction parallel to an axis of rotation of the rollers.
7. The drive apparatus of claim 5, further comprising a driving roller supported in a support plate defining a channel configured to receive the elongated member when the elongated member is disposed in the roller assembly, the driving roller configured to rotate the clamps.
8. The drive apparatus of claim 5, further comprising a saddle supporting the roller assembly within a housing defined by the pair of clamps.
9. The drive apparatus of claim 1, wherein the roller assembly includes a pair of opposing rollers.
10. The drive apparatus of claim 9, wherein the opposing rollers are engaged via a plurality of mating teeth, thereby coordinating a turning of the opposing rollers.
11. The drive apparatus of claim 5, further comprising a drive pinion engaged with an inner toothed surface.
12. The drive apparatus of claim 11, wherein the drive pinion is configured to rotate the first continuous surface about a spindle.
13. The drive apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a drive mechanism and a disposable portion including the roller assembly and the roller support.
14. The drive apparatus of claim 13, wherein the drive mechanism defines at least a portion of a sterile barrier with respect to the disposable portion.
15. A drive apparatus for an elongated member, comprising:
- a roller assembly configured to impart axial motion to the elongate member along a first continuous surface configured to maintain contact with the elongate member during axial motion;
- a roller support configured to rotate the roller assembly, thereby imparting rotational motion to the elongate member, the roller support configured to rotate the roller assembly about a second continuous surface configured to maintain contact with the roller support during rotational motion; and
- a pair of clamps selectively surrounding the roller assembly and the roller support;
- wherein the roller assembly and roller support are configured to impart axial and rotational motion independently of one another, such that a first one of the roller assembly and the roller support imparts their associated motion regardless of a presence or absence of motion by the other of the roller assembly and the roller support.
16. The drive apparatus of claim 15, wherein the first continuous surface is defined by a generally cylindrical roller included in the roller assembly.
17. The drive apparatus of claim 15, wherein the clamps selectively open to define a gap along an upper portion of the drive apparatus, allowing the elongate member to be received through the gap and within the rollers in a direction parallel to an axis of rotation of the rollers.
18. The drive apparatus of claim 15, further comprising a drive pinion engaged with an inner toothed surface.
19. The drive apparatus of claim 18, wherein the drive pinion is configured to rotate the first continuous surface about a spindle.
20. The drive apparatus of claim 15, further comprising a drive mechanism and a disposable portion including the roller assembly and the roller support, wherein the drive mechanism defines at least a portion of a sterile barrier with respect to the disposable portion.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 15, 2013
Publication Date: Sep 18, 2014
Applicant: Hansen Medical, Inc. (Mountain View, CA)
Inventors: Arkady Kokish (Los Gatos, CA), Francis Macnamara (Mountain View, CA)
Application Number: 13/835,136
International Classification: A61B 19/00 (20060101);