Nebraska Patent of the Month – May 2023
Virtual Incision Corporation has developed a surgical robotic system that can perform minimally invasive surgery on a patient. Their system, known as MIRA, is the world’s first miniaturized robotic assisted surgery (RAS) platform.
MIRA consists of a robotic device, which can be positioned into a cavity of the patient by way of a port positioned in an incision. The device comprises a unitary elongate device body, two shoulder joints, and two movable segmented robotic arms.
The first and second movable segmented robotic arms developed by Virtual Incision are positioned substantially parallel with a longitudinal axis of the device body for insertion by way of the port. Each robotic arm is made of multiple actuators, gears, and operational components. A rigid-flex PCB controls the arm actuators to perform precise yaw and pitch functions.
One segmented robotic arm has an elbow joint, which allows the arm to perform roll, pitch and yaw relative to the shoulder joint. The elbow also allows the lower portion of the arm to perform yaw movements relative to the upper arm. The operational component, which is likened to the hand, is interchangeable, allowing for selection from a group consisting of a grasping component, a cauterizing component, a suturing component, an imaging component, an irrigation component, a suction component, an operational arm component, a sensor component, and a lighting component.
The second movable segmented robotic arm is operably coupled to the second shoulder joint and comprises an upper and lower segment. This arm can also be equipped from the same set of operation components.
MIRA is remote controlled and designed to perform minimally-invasive surgery on a patient, with the device being sized to be positioned through an incision and into the body cavity of the patient. So far, it can perform a variety of surgical procedures, including grasping, cauterizing, suturing, imaging, irrigation, and suction.
Virtual Incision Corporation’s surgical robotic system is an innovative and promising development in the field of minimally-invasive surgery. The system has the potential to reduce the invasiveness and recovery time of surgical procedures, as well as increase the precision and accuracy of surgical maneuvers. It is a testament to the power of robotics and automation in healthcare and demonstrates the potential for technology to improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs.
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