Systems and methods of communicating thermal information for surgical robotic devices

Abstract

A medical system includes a thermal instrument, one or more processors, and memory. The medical system receives first information indicating a temperature of the thermal instrument, and receives second information indicating a distance between the thermal instrument and a secondary object. The medical system determines whether the temperature indicated by the first information satisfies a first criterion, and determines whether the distance indicated by the second information satisfies a second criterion. The medical system sends one or more signals for providing a feedback signal to a user.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A medical system, comprising:
 a thermal instrument;   one or more processors; and   memory storing instructions for execution by the one or more processors, the stored instructions including instructions for:
 receiving first information indicating a temperature of the thermal instrument; 
 receiving second information indicating a distance between the thermal instrument and a secondary object; 
 determining whether the temperature indicated by the first information satisfies a first criterion; 
 determining whether the distance indicated by the second information satisfies a second criterion; and 
 sending one or more signals for providing a feedback signal to a user. 
   
     
     
         2 . The medical system of  claim 1 , wherein the first criterion is satisfied when the temperature meets or exceeds a first temperature threshold. 
     
     
         3 . The medical system of  claim 2 , wherein the first temperature threshold is predefined in the memory of the medical system. 
     
     
         4 . The medical system of  claim 2 , wherein the stored instructions include instructions for modifying the first temperature threshold. 
     
     
         5 . The medical system of  claim 1 , wherein the second criterion is satisfied when the distance between the thermal instrument and the secondary object is less than a distance threshold. 
     
     
         6 . The medical system of  claim 5 , wherein the secondary object comprises human tissue. 
     
     
         7 . The medical system of  claim 5 , wherein the stored instructions include instructions for adjusting the distance threshold based on the temperature of the thermal instrument. 
     
     
         8 . The medical system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more signals are sent to a user console and the feedback signal comprises at least one of: a visual signal or a haptic signal. 
     
     
         9 . The medical system of  claim 8 , wherein the feedback signal comprises a visual signal in the form of a graphical overlay. 
     
     
         10 . The medical system of  claim 1 , wherein a temperature sensor is coupled to the thermal instrument to detect the temperature of the thermal instrument. 
     
     
         11 . The medical system of  claim 10 , wherein the temperature sensor comprises a thermocouple or an infrared sensor. 
     
     
         12 . The medical system of  claim 1 , further comprising a scope. 
     
     
         13 . The medical system of  claim 12 , wherein the scope comprises a sensor for determining the distance between the thermal instrument and the secondary object. 
     
     
         14 . The medical system of  claim 13 , wherein the sensor comprises a structured light sensor, a time of flight sensor, or a LIDAR sensor. 
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions for execution by one or more processors of a medical system, the stored instructions including instructions for:
 in accordance with a determination that warning criteria are satisfied, providing a warning signal to a user console, wherein the warning criteria are based on temperature information indicating a temperature of a thermal instrument and distance information indicating a distance between the thermal instrument and a secondary object.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 15 , wherein the stored instructions include instructions for:
 determining a distance threshold based on the temperature information,   wherein determining that the warning criteria are satisfied includes determining that the distance between the thermal instrument and the secondary object is less than the distance threshold.   
     
     
         17 . An electronic device, comprising:
 one or more processors; and   memory storing instructions for execution by the one or more processors, the stored instructions including instructions for:
 receiving an image of a surgical site; 
 receiving first information indicating a temperature of a thermal instrument; 
 receiving second information indicating a distance between the thermal instrument and a secondary object; 
 generating a combined image by combining the image of the surgical site and a graphical representation based on (i) the temperature of the thermal instrument and (ii) the distance between the thermal instrument and the secondary object; and 
 providing the combined image for display on a display device. 
   
     
     
         18 . The electronic device of  claim 17 , wherein the instructions for generating the combined image include instructions for overlaying the graphical representation on the image of the surgical site. 
     
     
         19 . The electronic device of  claim 17 , wherein the graphical representation includes a distance indicator representing the distance between the thermal instrument and the secondary object. 
     
     
         20 . The electronic device of  claim 17 , wherein the graphical representation includes a distance threshold indicator representing a distance threshold.