Surgical instrument

Abstract

A medical instrument assembly and robotic medical system are provided. The assembly comprises an insert including a shaft, a coupler carried on a proximal end of the shaft, a distal tool carried on a distal end of the shaft for performing a medical procedure on a patient, and at least one cable extending within the shaft. The coupler has at least one wheel that engages the cable(s) to effect movement of the insert within at least one degree of freedom, and each instrument wheel has a half-moon portion. The assembly further comprises an adapter including a base piece for receiving the shaft, and a coupler having at least one adapter wheel having a complementary half-moon portion configured for respectively engaging the half-moon portion of the instrument wheel(s). The system comprises the previously described assembly, and a drive unit coupled to the adapter wheel(s) to move the insert within the degree(s)-of-freedom.

1 . A medical instrument assembly, comprising:
 an instrument insert including an elongated instrument shaft, an instrument coupler carried on a proximal end of the instrument shaft, a distal tool carried on a distal end of the instrument shaft for performing a medical procedure on a patient, and at least one cable extending within the instrument shaft, the instrument coupler having at least one instrument wheel that engages the at least one cable to effect movement of the instrument insert within at least one degree of freedom, each of the at least one instrument wheel having a half-moon portion;   an adapter including a base piece for receiving the instrument shaft, and an adapter coupler having at least one adapter wheel having a complementary half-moon portion configured for respectively engaging the half-moon portion of the at least one instrument wheel.   
     
     
         2 . The medical instrument assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the elongated instrument shaft is flexible. 
     
     
         3 . The medical instrument assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one degree of freedom is a bending of the distal end of the instrument shaft. 
     
     
         4 . The medical instrument assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one degree of freedom is a mechanical actuation of the distal tool. 
     
     
         5 . The medical instrument assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the adapter coupler is pivotably coupled to the base piece, such that the adapter coupler can be laterally pivoted towards the instrument coupler to allow the complementary half-moon portion of the at least one adapter wheel to respectively engage the half-moon portion of the at least one instrument wheel. 
     
     
         6 . The medical instrument assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one instrument wheel comprises a plurality of instrument wheels, and the at least one adapter wheel comprises a plurality of adapter wheels. 
     
     
         7 . The medical instrument assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one mechanical cable respectively coupled to the at least one adapter wheel, the at least one mechanical cable configured for being coupled to a drive unit. 
     
     
         8 . The medical instrument assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the instrument coupler has an instrument housing containing the at least one instrument wheel, and the adapter coupler has an adapter housing containing the at least one adapter wheel, the instrument housing and adapter housing configured for mating with each other. 
     
     
         9 . The medical instrument assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the adapter includes a guide tube through which the elongated instrument shaft is inserted. 
     
     
         10 . The medical instrument assembly of  claim 9 , wherein the guide tube is rigid. 
     
     
         11 . The medical instrument assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising a carriage assembly including at least one rail and a carriage slidably disposed on the at least one rail, the base piece mounted to the carriage. 
     
     
         12 . A robotic medical system, comprising:
 the medical instrument assembly of  claim 1 ;   a drive unit coupled to the at least one adapter wheel to move the instrument insert within the at least one degree-of-freedom.   
     
     
         13 . The medical system of  claim 12 , wherein the drive unit is coupled to the at least one wheel of the adapter respectively via at least one mechanical cable. 
     
     
         14 . The medical system of  claim 12 , wherein the drive unit has a motor array. 
     
     
         15 . The medical system of  claim 12 , further comprising a remote controller configured for directing the drive unit to control the movement of the instrument insert within the at least one degree-of-freedom. 
     
     
         16 . The medical system of  claim 12 , wherein the remote controller has a user interface for receiving commands from a user. 
     
     
         17 . The medical system of  claim 16 , wherein the commands are movements made at the user interface that correspond to movements of the instrument insert within the at least one degree-of-freedom. 
     
     
         18 . The medical system of  claim 12 , wherein the remote controller is coupled to the drive unit via external cabling.