Computer interface or control input device for laparoscopic surgical instrument and other elongated mechanical objects
US5623582A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 14, 1994 |
| Grant date | Apr 22, 1997 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 14, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG05B2219/40137
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An apparatus for interfacing the movement of a shaft with a computer includes a support, a gimbal mechanism having two degrees of freedom, and three electromechanical transducers. When a shaft is engaged with the gimbal mechanism, it can move with three degrees of freedom in a spherical coordinate space, where each degree of freedom is sensed by one of the three transducers. A fourth transducer can be used to sense rotation of the shaft around an axis. The method includes the steps of defining an origin in 3-dimensional space, physically constraining a shaft in the 3-dimensional space such that a portion of the shaft always intersects the origin and such that a portion of the shaft extending beyond the origin defines a radius in a spherical coordinate system, transducing a first electrical signal related to a first angular coordinate of the radius with a first transducer, transducing a second electrical signal related to a second angular coordinate with a second transducer, transducing a third electrical signal related to the length of the radius with a third transducer, and coupling the transducers to a computer.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.