Surgical system with workflow monitoring

Abstract

A surgical system includes a sensor configured to detect a usage of a surgical object. The surgical system also includes a controller configured to assign a pre-defined order of planned steps of a surgical workflow, automatically distinguish between executed steps of the surgical workflow based on the usage of the object, based on distinguishing the executed steps of the surgical workflow, record a comparison of an actual order of executed steps of the surgical workflow with the pre-defined order of the planned steps, and generate feedback based on the comparison.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A surgical system, comprising:
 a sensor configured to detect a usage of a surgical object; and   a controller configured to:
 assign a pre-defined order of planned steps of a surgical workflow; 
 automatically distinguish between executed steps of the surgical workflow based on the usage of the surgical object; 
 based on distinguishing the executed steps of the surgical workflow, record a comparison of an actual order of the executed steps of the surgical workflow with the pre-defined order of the planned steps; and 
 generate feedback based on the comparison. 
   
     
     
         2 . The surgical system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to generate the feedback by identifying a missed step of the planned steps and generating an indication of the missed step. 
     
     
         3 . The surgical system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to generate the feedback by automatically generating a recommended change to the surgical workflow. 
     
     
         4 . The surgical system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to generate the feedback by automatically generating a recommended change to a future surgical workflow. 
     
     
         5 . The surgical system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to generate the feedback by automatically generating a recommendation to train a particular person involved in executing the surgical workflow. 
     
     
         6 . The surgical system of  claim 1 , wherein the sensor is a camera and wherein the controller is configured to identify motion of the camera. 
     
     
         7 . The surgical system of  claim 6 , further comprising an accelerometer coupled to the camera and configured to detect movement of the camera, wherein the controller is configured to identify the motion of the camera based on data from the accelerometer. 
     
     
         8 . The surgical system of  claim 1 , wherein the sensor is a radio-frequency identification sensor, the surgical system further comprising a radio-frequency identification tag coupled to the surgical object. 
     
     
         9 . The surgical system of  claim 1 , wherein the sensor is configured to detect positions of the surgical object, and wherein the controller is configured to automatically distinguish between the executed steps of the surgical workflow by comparing the positions of the surgical object to planned positions for the surgical object. 
     
     
         10 . The surgical system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured as an artificial intelligence system. 
     
     
         11 . The surgical system of  claim 1 , wherein the sensor is configured to detect a position of the surgical object defined in a global coordinate system of an operating room. 
     
     
         12 . The surgical system of  claim 1 , further comprising a robot operatively coupled to the controller, wherein the surgical object is a portion of the robot or a tool held by the robot. 
     
     
         13 . A surgical system, comprising:
 a sensor positionable in an operating room and configured to detect a position of a surgical object in the operating room; and   a controller configured to:
 assign a pre-defined order of planned steps of a surgical workflow; 
 automatically distinguish between executed steps of the surgical workflow based on a change in the position of the surgical object; 
 based on the distinguishing the executed steps of the surgical workflow, record a comparison of an actual order of the executed steps of the surgical workflow with the pre-defined order of the planned steps; and 
 generate feedback based on the comparison. 
   
     
     
         14 . The surgical system of  claim 13 , wherein the controller is configured to generate the feedback by automatically generating a recommended change to a future surgical workflow. 
     
     
         15 . The surgical system of  claim 13 , wherein the controller is configured to generate the feedback by adjusting a duration associated with the surgical workflow. 
     
     
         16 . The surgical system of  claim 13 , wherein the controller is configured to generate the feedback by determining and adopting an alternate version of the surgical workflow. 
     
     
         17 . The surgical system of  claim 13 , wherein the controller is configured to generate the feedback by automatically generating a recommendation to train a particular person involved in executing the surgical workflow. 
     
     
         18 . The surgical system of  claim 13 , wherein the sensor is a camera further comprising an accelerometer coupled to the camera and configured to detect movement of the camera, wherein the controller is configured to identify motion of the camera based on data from the accelerometer. 
     
     
         19 . The surgical system of  claim 13 , wherein the sensor is configured to detect the position of the surgical object is defined in a global coordinate system of the operating room. 
     
     
         20 . The surgical system of  claim 13 , further comprising a robot operatively coupled to the controller, wherein the surgical object is a portion of the robot or a tool held by the robot.