Minimally invasive surgery system

Abstract

A minimally invasive surgery system including a robot, a cannula assembly and a computer system. The robot has at least one movable robot arm and the cannula assembly is detachably mounted to the robot arm. The cannula assembly includes a cannula and a pattern generating member. The cannula has a distal end and a proximal end with a flange portion and an elongate cannula shaft portion extending from the proximal end to the distal end and an access port through the elongate cannula shaft portion. The pattern generating member includes a pattern light source and a projector temporarily or permanently fixed to the cannula shaft portion. The pattern light source is operatively connected to the projector for projecting a light pattern. The computer system is configured for in real time receiving image data representing light pattern reflections from a surgical surface and for determining a real-time spatial position of the cannula assembly relative to the surgical surface.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A minimally invasive surgery system, comprising
 a robot comprising at least one movable robot arm;   an elongate cannula detachably mounted to the robot arm, the cannula having a distal end and a proximal end with a lumen extending between the distal and proximal ends along a longitudinal axis of the cannula;   a projector disposed on an outer surface of the cannula and configured to project a light pattern onto a tissue; and   a computer system configured to:
 receive image data, in real time, characterizing an image of the light pattern projected onto the tissue, 
 determine a spatial position of the cannula relative to the tissue based on the image data, 
 determine an orientation of a distal end of a surgical tool of a surgical instrument disposed in the elongate shaft portion relative to the longitudinal axis of the cannula, and 
 determine a distance between the distal end of the surgical tool and the tissue based on the determined spatial position of the cannula and the determined orientation of the distal end of the surgical tool. 
   
     
     
         22 . The minimally invasive surgery system of  claim 21 , wherein the determined spatial position of the cannula characterizes a distance between the distal end of the cannula and the tissue. 
     
     
         23 . The minimally invasive surgery system of  claim 21 , further comprising a camera configured to acquire the image of the light pattern, to generate the image data, and to transmit the image data in real time to the computer system. 
     
     
         24 . The minimally invasive surgery system of  claim 23 , wherein the camera is mounted to or integrated with the robot. 
     
     
         25 . The minimally invasive surgery system of  claim 21 , further comprising the surgical instrument, the surgical instrument being detachably mounted to the at least one movable robot arm. 
     
     
         26 . The minimally invasive surgery system of  claim 21 , wherein the computer system is configured to determine a real-time spatial position of a portion of the surgical instrument relative to the surgical surface from the determined spatial position of the cannula relative to the tissue and the determined distance between the cannula and the portion of the surgical instrument. 
     
     
         27 . The minimally invasive surgery system of  claim 21 , wherein the robot comprises at least one encoder configured for tracking real time movements of the surgical tool and for transmitting the tracked movements in real time to the computer system. 
     
     
         28 . The minimally invasive surgery system of  claim 27 , wherein the at least one encoder comprises at least one of a rotary or a linear encoder on the at least one robot arm. 
     
     
         29 . The minimally invasive surgery system of  claim 27 , wherein the at least one encoder is a mechanical encoder, a magnetic encoder, an optical encoder, a capacitive encoder, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         30 . The minimally invasive surgery system of  claim 21 , wherein the robot comprises a tracking sensor configured for real time tracking of movements of the surgical tool 
     
     
         31 . The minimally invasive surgery system of  claim 30 , wherein the tracking sensor is a time-of-flight sensor, a magnetic sensors, or a structured light sensor. 
     
     
         32 . The minimally invasive surgery system of  claim 21 , wherein the computer system is configured to control movements of the at least one movable robot arm of the robot.