CPC A61B 34/30 (2016.02) [A61B 2017/003 (2013.01); A61B 2034/305 (2016.02); A61B 2034/306 (2016.02)] | 20 Claims |
1. A robotic surgical instrument comprising:
a shaft;
an articulated section extending from the shaft and terminating at a distal end in a tip, the tip having an attachment for an end effector, where the attachment is connected to the tip by a roll joint; and
a drive mechanism configured to drive the articulated section via flexible driving elements thereby altering an angular orientation of the tip relative to the shaft, wherein the drive mechanism is configured to be controlled so as to always fully compress the articulated section along at least one extent at an exterior edge of the articulated section by which the articulated section connects the tip and the shaft whilst driving the articulated section from any one configuration to any other configuration, wherein the drive mechanism constrains movement of the articulated section so as to permit the tip to move with two degrees of rotational freedom and no degrees of translational freedom relative to the shaft.
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