EP-4734870-A1 - ROBOTIC ASSEMBLY FOR A SURGICAL SYSTEM

Abstract

The present invention concerns a robotic assembly (110) comprising: a robotic arm (111) with at least two motorized degrees of freedom, one medical instrument (112) coupled with the robotic arm (111), wherein the medical instrument (112) is coupled with a flange of the robotic arm (111), this flange comprising a joint (113) configured for the transmission of at least one angular rotation and wherein the medical instrument (112) extends between the joint (113) configured for the transmission of at least one angular rotation and a pivot point (120).

Inventors

• LOMBARD, Bertrand

Assignees

• Zentact Robotics

Dates

Publication Date

20260506

Application Date

20240701

Claims (1)

1. CLAIMS 1. A robotic assembly (110) comprising: a. a robotic arm (111) with at least two motorized degrees of freedom, b. one medical instrument (112) coupled with the robotic arm (111), and c. a pivot point (120) coupled with the medical instrument, wherein the medical instrument (112) is coupled with a flange of the robotic arm (111), said flange comprising a joint (113) configured for transmitting at least one angular rotation to the medical instrument, wherein the medical instrument (112) extends, at least between the flange and the pivot point (120), along a main axis of extension (X) and wherein the at least two motorized degrees of freedom of the robotic arm (111) are configured to permit displacement of the medical instrument (112) with respect to the pivot point (120) according to at least one translational degree of freedom along its main axis of extension (X) and according to one rotational degree of freedom around its main axis of extension (X), and wherein a first distance (D1) measured between the joint (113) and the pivot point (120) is at least three times greater than a second distance (D2) measured between the pivot point (120) and a tip of the medical instrument (112). 2. The robotic assembly (110) according to claim 1 , wherein the robotic arm (111) comprises at least four motorized degrees of freedom. 3. The robotic assembly (110) according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the joint (113) is a passive joint. 4. The robotic assembly according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the medical instrument (112) is an endoscope. 5. The robotic assembly according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the robotic arm (111) is linked to the pivot point (120) by a link providing at least two degrees of freedom to the pivot point (120). 6. A surgical system (400), comprising at least one robotic assembly (110) according to any of the preceding claims, and at least one armrest (401) rigidly linked to the robotic assembly (110). 7. The surgical system (400) according to the preceding claim, comprising two armrests (401) distributed on both sides of the medical instrument (112). 8. The surgical system according to any of claims 6 or 7, comprising a transversal support (402) supporting the robotic arm (111) of the robotic assembly (110) and the armrest(s) (401). 9. The surgical system according to claim 8 in combination with claim 7, wherein the transversal support (402) presents a length, measured along a straight-line (L) extending between fixation points (412) of each armrest (401) on the transversal support (402), smaller than 70 cm. 10. The surgical system (400) according to any of claims 6 to 9, wherein each armrest (401) comprises at least a first part (411) and a second part (421) linked to one another by a passive lockable joint (430). 11 . The surgical system (400) according to any of claims 6 to 10, comprising at least one imaging device (410) configured to capture, continuously, images of a head of an operator (O) of the surgical system (400), and at least one data processor (440), the surgical system (400) being operable according to a head-controlled mode, wherein the at least one data processor (440) is configured to, as long as the head-controlled mode is enabled: a. detect at least two successive poses of a face or two successive poses of the eyes of the operator (O) of the system captured by the imaging device (410), b. determine a movement of the face or a movement of the eyes of the operator (O) based on said detected successive poses, c. determine a commanded displacement of the medical instrument (112) based on the determined movement of the face or of the eyes of the operator (O), d. compute and send at least one instruction to the robotic assembly (110) to displace the medical instrument (112) based on the determined commanded displacement. 12. The surgical system (400) according to any of claims 6 to 11 , wherein the medical instrument (112) is an endoscope, and wherein the data processor is configured to instruct the robotic assembly to move the endoscope so as for a tip of a surgical tool (200) manually manipulated by the operator (O) to remain within a defined zone of a field of view of the endoscope. 13. The surgical system (400) according to the preceding claim, wherein the defined zone of the field of view of the endoscope represents up to 50% of said field of view. 14. The surgical system (400) according to any of claims 12 or 13, wherein the surgical system (400) comprises a display device (420) configured to display, at least, images captured by the endoscope. 15. The surgical instrument according to the preceding claim, wherein the medical instrument (112) is a vision angulated endoscope comprising at least one encoder configured to measure an angle of rotation of the vision angulated endoscope, and wherein the data processor is configured to rotate the image displayed according to the same angle of rotation.

Description

ROBOTIC ASSEMBLY FOR A SURGICAL SYSTEM The present disclosure relates to the domain of surgical systems, and particularly to surgical systems adapted to be used for ear, nose, throat (ENT) surgeries. ENT surgeries are generally carried out as minimally invasive surgeries as all the surgical instruments needed to perform such surgeries are inserted in the patient through natural orifices. Currently, the ENT surgeons have to hold, manually, an endoscope which allows them to see inside the cavity where they have to perform the concerned surgery and one or several surgical instrument to actually perform said surgery. Holding and actuating simultaneously as many objects renders their manipulation particularly complex and thus leads to long learning curves and multiple potential errors. Robotized endoscopes have been developed to help surgeons perform minimally invasive surgeries, but they still remain cumbersome and very complex to manipulate. Also, most operators have difficulties to coordinate the displacements of the medical instruments with the images provided by such robotized endoscope. For instance, document US20190374129A1 discloses an endoscope adapted to be inserted through small incision or natural orifices of a human body and equipped with tracking sensors, thus permitting to the operator to know the current pose of said endoscope within the body of the treated patient. Even if this kind of system improves the spatial coordination with respect to image capture, it requires a long learning process for the surgeon as he/she must coordinate his/her movements with what he/she sees on a display. Document US20180214226A1 describes a robotic system which is permits to drive, tele- operatively, at least two flexible instruments, both received in a canula extending through an incision realized in the skin of the patient. This kind of system also requires a long learning process for the surgeon as tele-operating flexible instruments is a complex task. Document WO2021/198663A1 finally describes a robotic system particularly adapted to operate laparoscopies, with three robotic arms which respectively hold one surgical instrument. This robotic system is well adapted to perform said laparoscopies wherein several incisions can be realized in the patient’s skin. Such kind of robotic however is not adapted to perform ENT (ear, nose, throat) surgeries which require to have at least two, often three, distinct instruments passing through a small natural channel, such as the ear canal for instance. The robotic system described in the document WO2021/198663A1 is indeed way too cumbersome to be used for this kind of surgeries. Finally, all the systems disclosed above aim at stabilizing movements of the endoscope but fail to provide stability to the surgeon’s hands holding the surgical instruments used to actually perform the concerned surgery. Thus, there remains a need to develop a new kind of robot with a chosen and stable point of view which permits the surgeon to, simultaneously, see the interior of the concerned cavity, for instance while have both his/her hands free to manipulate one or several surgical instruments. An objective of the present disclosure is to provide a compact robotic assembly for holding a surgical instrument, such as an endoscope which aims at solving at least the above- mentioned drawbacks. An object of the present invention thus concerns a robotic assembly comprising: a. a robotic arm with at least two motorized degrees of freedom, b. one medical instrument coupled with the robotic arm, and c. a pivot point coupled with the medical instrument, wherein the medical instrument is coupled with a flange of the robotic arm, this flange comprising a joint configured for the transmission of at least one angular rotation and wherein the medical instrument extends between the joint and a pivot point. The robotic assembly can be completed by one or several of the following features, taken alone or in combination. The medical instrument extends, at least between the flange and the pivot point, along a main axis of extension and the at least two motorized degrees of freedom of the robotic arm are configured to permit displacement of the medical instrument with respect to the pivot point according to one translational degree of freedom along its main axis of extension and according to one rotational degree of freedom around its main axis of extension. The robotic arm comprises at least four motorized degrees of freedom. According to this aspect, the robotic arm is configured to displace the medical instrument according to at least four degrees of freedom. The joint of the flange by which the medical instrument is coupled to the robotic arm is a passive joint. By “passive joint”, we here refer to a joint deprived of motor. Thus, the robotic arm presents at least four motorized joints and one passive joint. A first distance measured between the joint and the pivot point is at least three times greater than a