John C. Hill, JR
Architects at Alma St, Palo Alto, CA

6309397, Oct 30, 2001

Dec 2, 1999

9/453978

Christopher A. Julian - Los Gatos CA
Daniel T. Wallace - Redwood City CA
Frederic H. Moll - Woodside CA
Dean F. Hoornaert - Mountain View CA
David J. Rosa - San Jose CA
John G. Freund - Redwood City CA
John W. Hill - Palo Alto CA

SRI International - Menlo Park CA
Intuitive Surgical, Inc. - Mountain View CA

A61B 1900

606130

Surgical accessories are presented in vivo and used by surgical tools in the surgical site to perform additional tasks without the need to remove the tools from the surgical site for tool change or instrument loading. Examples of in vivo accessories include fastening accessories such as surgical clips for use with a clip applier, single working member accessories such as a blade which can be grasped and manipulated by a grasping tool for cutting, sheath accessories that fit over working members of a tool, flow tubes for providing suction or introducing a fluid into the surgical site, and a retraction member resiliently biased to retract a tissue to expose an area in the surgical site for treatment. The accessories can be introduced into the surgical site by a dedicated accessory introducer, or can be supported on the body of a surgical tool inserted into the surgical site and be manipulated using another surgical tool in the surgical site. The accessory introducer can be resiliently biased to bias the accessories toward a predetermined position in the surgical site.

2002004, Apr 11, 2002

Nov 6, 2001

10/005734

Christopher Julian - Los Gatos CA, US
Daniel Wallace - Redwood City CA, US
Frederic Moll - Woodside CA, US
Dean Hoornaert - Mountain View CA, US
David Rosa - San Jose CA, US
John Freund - Redwood City CA, US
John Hill - Palo Alto CA, US

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. - Mountain View CA

A61B019/00

606/130000

Surgical accessories are presented in vivo and used by surgical tools in the surgical site to perform additional tasks without the need to remove the tools from the surgical site for tool change or instrument loading. Examples of in vivo accessories include fastening accessories such as surgical clips for use with a clip applier, single working member accessories such as a blade which can be grasped and manipulated by a grasping tool for cutting, sheath accessories that fit over working members of a tool, flow tubes for providing suction or introducing a fluid into the surgical site, and a retraction member resiliently biased to retract a tissue to expose an area in the surgical site for treatment. The accessories can be introduced into the surgical site by a dedicated accessory introducer, or can be supported on the body of a surgical tool inserted into the surgical site and be manipulated using another surgical tool in the surgical site. The accessory introducer can be resiliently biased to bias the accessories toward a predetermined position in the surgical site.

6413264, Jul 2, 2002

Jun 25, 1998

09/104935

Joel F. Jensen - Redwood City CA
John W. Hill - Palo Alto CA

SRI International - Menlo Park CA

A61B 1900

606130, 414 1

The invention is directed to manipulator assembly ( ) for holding and manipulating a surgical instrument ( ) in a telerobotic system. The assembly comprises a base ( ) by fixable by means of passive or power driven positioning devices to a surface, such as an operating table, and an instrument holder ( ) movably mounted on the base. The instrument holder comprises a chassis ( ) and an instrument support ( ) movably mounted on the body and having an interface engageable with the surgical instrument to releasably mount the instrument to the instrument holder. A drive assembly ( ) is operatively coupled to the instrument holder for providing the instrument with at least two degrees of freedom. The instrument holder is separable from the base and the drive assembly so that the holder can be sterilized. The assembly further includes a force sensing element ( ) mounted distal to the holder and the drive assembly for detecting forces exerted on the surgical instrument and providing feedback to the surgeon.

6620174, Sep 16, 2003

Apr 16, 2002

10/124573

Joel F. Jensen - Redwood City CA
John W. Hill - Palo Alto CA

SRI International - Menlo Park CA

A61B 1900

606130

The present invention provides a method of performing an endoscopic surgical procedure on a target site within a body cavity of a patient. In one embodiment, the method comprises operatively coupling moveable actuator pins of a surgical instrument with a driver of a robotic arm to releasably couple the surgical instrument to the robotic arm. A distal portion of said surgical instrument is introduced through a percutaneous penetration into the body cavity within the patient. The surgical instrument can be pivoted about the percutaneous penetration by moving a proximal portion of said instrument outside the body cavity with a plurality of degrees of freedom of movement using the robotic arm.

2011006, Mar 10, 2011

Sep 30, 2010

12/894913

Joel F. Jensen - Redwood City CA, US
Philip S. Green - Palo Alto CA, US
John W. Hill - Palo Alto CA, US

SRI International, Inc. - Menlo Park CA

A61B 19/00

606130

The invention is directed to a system and method for releasably holding a surgical instrument (), such as an endoscopic instrument configured for delivery through a small percutaneous penetration in a patient. The instrument comprises an elongate shaft () with a pair of mounting pins () laterally extending from the shaft between its proximal and distal ends. An instrument holder comprises a support having a central bore () and an axially extending slot () for receiving the instrument shaft and the mounting pins. A pair of locking slots () are cut into the support transversely to and in communication with the axial slot so that the mounting pins can be rotated within the locking slots. The instrument support further includes a latch assembly for automatically locking the mounting pins within the locking slots to releasably couple the instrument to the instrument holder. With this twist-lock motion, the surgeon can rapidly engage and disengage various instruments from the holder during a surgical procedure, such as open surgery, laparoscopy or thoracoscopy.

5814038, Sep 29, 1998

Mar 27, 1997

8/824977

Joel F. Jensen - Redwood City CA
John W. Hill - Palo Alto CA

SRI International - Menlo Park CA

A61B 1700

606 1

The invention is directed to manipulator assembly (2) for holding and manipulating a surgical instrument (14) in a telerobotic system. The assembly comprises a base (6) by fixable by means of passive or power driven positioning devices to a surface, such as an operating table, and an instrument holder (4) movably mounted on the base. The instrument holder comprises a chassis (6) and an instrument support (70) movably mounted on the body and having an interface engageable with the surgical instrument to releasably mount the instrument to the instrument holder. A drive assembly (7) is operatively coupled to the instrument holder for providing the instrument with at least two degrees of freedom. The instrument holder is separable from the base and the drive assembly so that the holder can be sterilized. The assembly further includes a force sensing element (52) mounted distal to the holder and the drive assembly for detecting forces exerted on the surgical instrument and providing feedback to the surgeon.

6080181, Jun 27, 2000

Jun 26, 1998

9/105706

Joel F. Jensen - Redwood City CA
John W. Hill - Palo Alto CA

SRI International - Menlo Park CA

A61B 1728

606205

The invention is directed to a system and method for releasably holding a surgical instrument (14), such as an endoscopic instrument configured for delivery through a small percutaneous penetration in a patient. The instrument comprises an elongate shaft (100) with a pair of mounting pins (116) laterally extending from the shaft between its proximal and distal ends. An instrument holder comprises a support having a central bore (202) and an axially extending slot (204) for receiving the instrument shaft and the mounting pins. A pair of locking slots (206) are cut into the support transversely to and in communication with the axial slot so that the mounting pins can be rotated within the locking slots. The instrument support further includes a latch assembly for automatically locking the mounting pins within the locking slots to releasably couple the instrument to the instrument holder. With this twist-lock motion, the surgeon can rapidly engage and disengage various instruments from the holder during a surgical procedure, such as open surgery, laparoscopy or thoracoscopy.

5649956, Jul 22, 1997

Jun 7, 1995

8/485587

Joel F. Jensen - Redwood City CA
John W. Hill - Palo Alto CA

SRI International - Menlo Park CA

A61B 1728

606205

The invention is directed to a system and method for releasably holding a surgical instrument (14), such as an endoscopic instrument configured for delivery through a small percutaneous penetration in a patient. The instrument comprises an elongate shaft (100) with a pair of mounting pins (116) laterally extending from the shaft between its proximal and distal ends. An instrument holder comprises a support having a central bore (202) and an axially extending slot (204) for receiving the instrument shaft and the mounting pins. A pair of locking slots (206) are cut into the support transversely to and in communication with the axial slot so that the mounting pins can be rotated within the locking slots. The instrument support further includes a latch assembly for automatically locking the mounting pins within the locking slots to releasably couple the instrument to the instrument holder. With this twist-lock motion, the surgeon can rapidly engage and disengage various instruments from the holder during a surgical procedure, such as open surgery, laparoscopy or thoracoscopy.

4535405, Aug 13, 1985

Sep 29, 1982

6/426631

John W. Hill - Palo Alto CA
Anthony J. Sword - San Francisco CA

Microbot, Inc. - Mountain View CA

G05B 1940

364400

A method and apparatus for controlling a stepper motor and for force sensing and force control. Stepper motor drive waveforms are provided which are constructed of a sequence of stairsteps, the size and duration thereof being determined as a function of the desired rotational velocity of the stepper motor. Means and a method for accelerating the stepper motor by varying the step size and step duration of the stairsteps in the drive waveform are discussed. Additionally, means and a method are discussed for sensing and controlling the force applied by the stepper motor to a load by way of evaluating the displacement of the actual position of the stepper motor shaft from the commanded or desired position of the shaft. Means and a method for implementing a compliant function in a similar manner are described.

4806066, Feb 21, 1989

Sep 23, 1985

6/779159

Guy W. Rhodes - Los Altos Hills CA
John W. Hill - Palo Alto CA
Clement M. Smith - Portola Valley CA
Thomas M. Grimm - Santa Clara CA

Microbot, Inc. - Sunnyvale CA

B25J 910

414729

A robotic arm and control system comprising a multi-axis, open-loop system of coupled structural members, wherein each structural member is pivotably coupled to one another to form a number of joints, wherein position calibration is provided by way of position sensors disposed at each joint, and controls for manipulating each joint in a predetermined manner and for monitoring the output of each position sensor, the controls first causing all structural members to move with respect to one another so that each position sensor outputs a home signal, the controls then manipulating each structural member in a predetermined sequence until each structural member is caused to be within a predetermined distance from its home position.