HK1148374B - Medical tele-robotic system - Google Patents

Description

Medical remote robot system

The application is a divisional application of Chinese patent application with the application date of 25/7/2003, the application number of 03822914.5 and the invention name of 'medical telerobot system'.

Background

1. Field of the invention

The subject matter of the present disclosure relates generally to the field of robotics for use in the medical field.

2. Background of the invention

There is a growing need to provide remote health care for patients suffering from a variety of diseases ranging from alzheimer's dementia (alzheimer's) to stress disorders. To minimize costs, it is desirable to provide home care for these patients. Home care typically requires a periodic visit by a health care provider, such as a nurse or some type of assistant. Due to financial and/or personnel issues, healthcare providers may not be present when patients require some type of assistance. Furthermore, existing employees must be constantly trained, which can create a burden on trained personnel. It would be desirable to provide such a system: which allows healthcare workers to remotely care for a patient without being physically present.

Robots are used in a variety of applications ranging from remote control of hazardous materials to assistance in performing surgery. For example, U.S. Pat. No.5,762,458 issued to Wang et al discloses a system that allows a surgeon to perform minimally invasive medical procedures through the use of robotic control instruments. Domestic "toy" robots have also been developed. These robots typically have a relatively simple motion platform and some type of speech synthesis for generating words and sounds. It would be desirable to provide a robotic system that allows for monitoring and assistance with a remote patient.

Disclosure of Invention

The robot may include a camera and a monitor attached to the housing. The robot may also have a platform attached to the frame and connected to the controller. The controller may be connected to the broadband interface.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a robotic system;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a robot electrical system;

FIG. 3 is another schematic view of the robot electrical system;

FIG. 4 is a view of the robot with the arm in an upward position;

FIG. 5 is a view of the robot with the arm in a lower position;

FIG. 6 is a view of the holonomic platform of the robot;

FIG. 7 is a view of a roller assembly of the holonomic platform;

FIG. 8 is a view of a robotic arm assembly;

FIG. 9 is a view of the gripper assembly of the arm;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a battery charger for the robot;

figure 11 is a vector diagram that can be used to calculate robot motion.

Detailed Description

Disclosed is a robot system including a remote-controlled robot. The robot may include a camera, a monitor, and a holonomic platform, all of which are attached to a robot housing. The robot may be controlled by a remote console that also has a camera and monitor. The remote control station may be connected to a base station that is wirelessly connected to the robot. The cameras and monitors allow a caregiver at a remote location to monitor and care for a patient via the robot. The holonomic platform allows the robot to move around home or at a facility to locate and/or follow a patient.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly by reference numbers, FIG. 1 shows a robotic system 10. The robotic system 10 includes a robot 12, a base station 14, and a remote control station 16. The remote console 16 may be connected to the base station 14 through a network 18. For example, the network 18 may be a packet-switched network, such as the Internet, or a circuit-switched network, such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), or other broadband system. The base station 14 may be connected to the network 18 via a modem 20 or other broadband network interface device.

The remote console 16 may include a computer 22 having a monitor 24, a camera 26, a microphone 28, and speakers 30. The computer 22 may also include an input device 32 such as a joystick or a mouse. The console 16 is typically located at a location remote from the robot 12. Although only one remote console 16 is shown, the system 10 may include multiple remote consoles. Further, while only one robot 12 is shown, it is understood that the system 10 may have multiple robots 12. In general, any number of robots 12 may be controlled by any number of remote stations. For example, one remote station 16 may be connected to multiple robots 12, or one robot 12 may be connected to multiple remote stations 16.

The robot 12 includes a motion platform 34 attached to a robot housing 36. A camera 38, monitor 40, microphone 42 and speaker 44 are also attached to the robot housing 36. The microphone 42 and speaker 30 may produce stereo sound. The robot 12 may also have an antenna 44 that is wirelessly connected to an antenna 46 of the base station 14. The system 10 allows a user at the remote console 16 to move the robot 12 through the input device 32. The robot camera 38 is connected to the remote monitor 24 so that a user at the remote station 16 can view the patient. Likewise, the robot monitor 40 is connected to the remote camera 26 so that the patient can view the user. The microphones 28 and 42 and speakers 30 and 44 allow for audio communication between the patient and the user.

The remote station computer 22 may run Microsoft OS software and a WINDOWS XP system or other operating systems such as LINUX. The remote computer 22 may also run a video driver, a camera driver, an audio driver, and a joystick driver. Video images may be transmitted and received using, for example, MPEG CODEC compression software.

Fig. 2 and 3 show an embodiment of the robot 12. The robot 12 may include a high level control system 50 and a low level control system 52. The high level control system 50 may include a processor 54 connected to a bus 56. The bus is connected to the camera 38 via an input/output (I/O) port 58 and to the monitor 40 via a serial output port 60 and a VGA driver 62. The monitor 40 may include touch screen functionality that allows the patient to make input by touching the monitor screen.

The speaker 44 is connected to the bus 56 by a digital to analog converter 64. The microphone 42 is connected to the bus 56 by an analog-to-digital converter 66. The high level controller 50 may also contain a Random Access Memory (RAM) device 68, a persistent RAM device 70 and a mass storage device 72, all connected to the bus 62. The mass storage device 72 may contain medical records of the patient that can be accessed by the user at the remote console 16. For example, the mass storage device 72 may contain a picture of the patient. The user, particularly a health care provider, can recall the old picture and make a side-by-side comparison on the monitor 24 with the current video image of the patient provided by the camera 38. The robot antenna 44 may be connected to a wireless transceiver 74. For example, transceiver 74 may transmit and receive information in accordance with IEEE 802.11 a.

The controller 54 may run a LINUX OS operating system. The controller 54 may also run X WINDOWS and video, camera and audio drivers for communicating with the remote control station 16. Video information is transceived using MPEG CODEC compression techniques. This software may allow the user to send an e-mail to the patient and vice versa, or allow the patient to access the internet. In general, the high level controller 50 operates to control communication between the robot 12 and the remote console 16.

The high level controller 50 may be connected to the primary controller 52 via serial ports 76 and 78. The primary controller 52 includes a processor 80 connected to a RAM device 82 and a persistent RAM device 84 by a bus 86. The robot 12 includes a plurality of motors 88 and motor encoders 90. The encoder 90 provides feedback information regarding the output of the motor 88. The motor 88 may be connected to the bus 86 by a digital to analog converter 92 and a driver amplifier 94. The encoder 90 may be connected to the bus 86 by a decoder 96. The robot 12 also has a number of proximity sensors 98 (see also figure 1). The position sensor 98 may be coupled to the bus 86 by a signal conditioning circuit 100 and an analog-to-digital converter 102.

The primary controller 52 runs a software routine that mechanically drives the robot 12. For example, the primary controller 52 provides instructions to drive the motion platform, to move the robot 12, or to drive the arms of the robot. The primary controller 52 may receive motion instructions from the high level controller 50. Motion instructions may be received as motion commands from a remote console. Although two controllers are shown, it will be appreciated that: the robot 12 may have one controller that controls the advanced and primary functions.

The various electrical devices of the robot 12 may be powered by a battery 104. The battery 104 may be charged by a battery charging station 106 (see also fig. 1). The primary controller 52 may include a battery control circuit 108 that senses the power level of the battery 104. The primary controller 52 can sense when the power drops below a threshold and send a message to the advanced controller 50 in response. The high level controller 50 may include a power management software routine that causes the robot 12 to move so that the battery 104 is connected to the charger 106 when the battery power falls below a threshold. Alternatively, the user can direct the robot 12 to the battery charger 106. In addition, the battery may be replaced or the robot 12 may be connected to a wall power outlet via a wire (not shown).

Fig. 4 shows an embodiment of the robot 12. The robot 12 may include a holonomic platform 110 attached to a robot housing 112. This holonomic platform 110 allows the robot 12 to move in any direction. Although not shown, the robot housing 112 may include a bumper.

The robot 12 may have an arm 114 that supports the camera 38 and the monitor 40. The arm 114 may have two degrees of freedom so that the camera 26 and monitor 24 may be moved from the upper position shown in fig. 4 to the lower position shown in fig. 5. The arm 114 may have an end effector 116, such as a gripper capable of grasping an object.

The robot 12 may include a drawer 118 that is automatically movable between a closed position and an open position. The drawer 118 can be used to dispense medication to a patient. For example, the drawer 118 may contain medications that must be taken at a certain time. The robot 12 may be programmed so that the drawer 118 is opened at a desired time. A nurse or other health care professional may "fill" the drawer 118 periodically. The robot may also have a battery charging port 119. Although a drug is described, it is to be understood that: the drawer 118 can accommodate any item.

As shown in fig. 6, the holonomic platform 110 may include three roller assemblies 120 mounted to a base plate 122. The roller assemblies 120 are generally equally spaced relative to the platform 110 and allow movement in any direction.

Fig. 7 shows an embodiment of a roller assembly 120. Each roller assembly 120 may include a drive ball 124 that is driven by a pair of drive rollers 126. The roller assembly 120 includes a retainer ring 128 and a plurality of bushings 130 that allow the balls 124 to rotate in the x and y directions, but prevent movement in the z direction.

The drive roller 126 is connected to a motor assembly 132. This assembly 132 corresponds to the motor 88 shown in fig. 3. The motor assembly 132 includes an output pulley 134 attached to a motor 136. The output pulley 134 is connected to a pair of ball pulleys 138 by a drive belt 140. The ball pulleys 138 are attached to drive pins 142, which are attached to a drive bracket 144. The drive rollers 126 are attached to the drive bracket 144 by roller pins 146. Each drive bracket 144 has a pin 143 supported by a partial bracket.

Rotation of output pulley 134 rotates ball pulley 138. Rotation of the ball pulley 138 causes the drive roller 126 to turn and rotate the ball 124 by friction. Rotating the ball 124 moves the robot 12. The drive rollers 126 are out of phase so that one of the rollers is always in contact with the ball 124. The roller pin 146 and the bracket 144 allow the drive roller 126 to rotate freely and allow passive motion in the orthogonal direction when one of the other roller assemblies 120 drives and moves the robot 12.

Fig. 8 and 9 show an embodiment of the arm 114. The arm 114 may include a first linkage 150 that is pivotally mounted to a fixed plate 152 of the robot housing 12. The arm 114 may also include a second linkage 154 that is pivotably coupled to the first linkage 150, and a third linkage 156 that is pivotably coupled to the second linkage 154.

The first linkage 150 may be coupled to a first motor 158 and a motor encoder 160 via a gear assembly 162. Rotation of the motor 158 will result in corresponding pivotal movement of the linkage 150 and the arm 114. The attachment mechanism 150 may be attached to the fixed plate 152 by a bearing 164.

The second linkage 154 may be coupled to the second motor 166 and the encoder 168 by a gear assembly 170 and a pulley assembly 172. The pulley assembly 172 may be connected to the gear assembly 170 by a pin 174 that extends through the gear assembly 162 of the first motor 158. The second linkage 154 may be attached to a pin 176 that is rotatable relative to the first linkage 150. The pulley assembly 172 may have a belt 178 connecting a pair of pulleys 180 and 182 attached to the pins 174 and 176, respectively. The pin 176 may be coupled to the first linkage 150 via a bearing 182. The arm 114 is configured to allow the wire 183 to be internally routed through the linkages 150, 154 and 156.

The third linkage 156 may be connected to a pin 184 that is rotatable relative to the second linkage 154. The pin 184 may be coupled to the second coupling mechanism 154 by a bearing assembly 186. The third attachment mechanism 156 may be structurally connected to the first attachment mechanism 150 by a pair of pulley assemblies 188. The pulley assembly 188 ensures that the third linkage 156 is in a horizontal position regardless of the position of the first linkage 150 and the second linkage 154. As shown in fig. 4 and 5, the third linkage 156 is always in a horizontal position. This ensures that the camera 26 is always in the same orientation, thus reducing the likelihood of directional obstruction on the remote console when viewing the patient.

The gripper 116 is attached to the third linkage 156. The gripper 116 may include a pair of fingers 190 that are pivotally attached to a base plate 192. The fingers 190 are connected to the motor 194 and the encoder 196 by a gear assembly 198. The base plate 192 is coupled to the third coupling mechanism 156 by a bearing assembly 200. The motor 194 is capable of rotating the base plate 192 and the fingers 190 relative to the third linkage 156.

The gripper 116 may further have a push rod 202 that engages a cam surface 204 of the fingers 190 to move the gripper fingers 190 between the open and closed positions. The push rod 202 may be coupled to a motor 206 and an encoder (not shown) via a linkage assembly 208. Actuation of the motor 206 will translate the push rod 202 and move the fingers 190. The motor 206 may have a force sensor that provides force feedback back to the remote console. The input device of the remote console has a force feedback mechanism so that the user perceives the force applied to the gripper fingers 190.

In operation, the robot 12 may be located in a home or facility where one or more patients need to be monitored and/or assisted. The facility may be a hospital or a residential care facility. For example, the robot 12 may be placed in a home where health care providers may monitor and/or assist a patient. Likewise, a friend or family member may communicate with the patient. The cameras and monitors of the robot and remote console allow for teleconferencing between the patient and the person at the remote console.

By manipulating the input device 32 at the remote console 16, the robot 12 can be manipulated to move within a home or facility. The robot 12 has automatic movement at the same time. For example, the robot 12 may be programmed to automatically move to a patient's room at a certain time to dispense the medications in the drawer 118 without input from the remote control station 16. The robot 12 may be programmed to monitor and/or assist the patient 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Such monitoring capability is enhanced by the autonomous charging function of the robot.

The robot 10 may be controlled by many different users. To accommodate this, the robot may have an arbitration system. The mediation system may be integrated into the operating system of the robot 12. For example, the mediation technique may be embedded within the operating system of the advanced controller 50.

For example, users may be divided into several categories, including the robot itself, a local user, a caregiver, a doctor, a family member, or a service person. The robot may not consider input commands that conflict with robot operation. For example, if the robot hits a wall, the system may ignore all additional commands that continue in the direction of the wall. The local user is a person who is present with the robot. The robot may have an input device that allows local operation. For example, the robot may include a speech recognition system that receives and interprets audio commands.

A caregiver is a person who remotely monitors a patient. A doctor is a medical professional who can remotely control the robot and also access medical files contained in the robot memory. Family members and service personnel remotely access the robot. Service personnel may maintain the system by upgrading software or setting operating parameters.

Packets of information may be communicated between the robot 12 and the remote console 16. The packets provide commands and feedback. Each packet may have multiple fields. For example, the packet may include an identifier field, a forward speed field, an angular speed field, a stop field, a buffer field, a sensor range field, a configuration field, a text field, and a debug field.

The identification of the remote user may be provided in an identifier field of the information transmitted from the remote console 16 to the robot 12. For example, the user may enter a user identifier into a settings table of the application software run by the remote console 16. The user identifier is then sent to the robot along with each message.

The robot 12 may be operated in one of two different modes: dedicated mode or shared mode. In the dedicated mode, only one user can access the control robot. The dedicated mode may have a priority assigned to each type of user. For example, the priority may be in this order: local users, doctors, caregivers, family members, and service personnel. In the sharing mode, two or more users may access the robot in common. For example, a caregiver may access the robot, and the caregiver may then enter a sharing mode, allowing the doctor to access the robot at the same time. Both the caregiver and the doctor can conduct a synchronous teleconference with the patient.

The mediation configuration may have one of four mechanisms; notification, timeout, queue and recall. The notification mechanism may notify the current user or the requesting user of: another user has visited or wishes to visit the robot. The timeout mechanism provides a defined time for certain types of users to complete access to the robot. The queue mechanism is an ordered waiting list for accessing the robot. The recall mechanism notifies the user: the robot may be accessed. For example, a home user may receive email messages: the robot is idle and available for use. Tables 1 and 2 show how the institution addresses the access requirements of different users.

TABLE I

User's hand	Access control	Medical record	Command override	Software/debug access	Setting priority
						Robot	Whether or not	Whether or not	Is (1)	Whether or not	Whether or not
Local user	Whether or not	Whether or not	Is (2)	Whether or not	Whether or not
						Nursing staff	Is that	Is that	Is (3)	Whether or not	Whether or not
Doctor	Whether or not	Is that	Whether or not	Whether or not	Whether or not
						Family member	Whether or not	Whether or not	Whether or not	Whether or not	Whether or not
Service personnel	Is that	Whether or not	Is that	Is that	Is that

TABLE II

Information communicated between the console 16 and the robot 12 may be encrypted. In addition, the user may have to enter a password to access the system 10. The selected robot is then provided with the electronic key by the console 16. The robot 12 validates the key and returns another key to the console 16. The information transmitted in the process is encrypted using a key.

Fig. 10 shows an embodiment of a battery charger. The robot port 119 may include a secondary winding 250 that is magnetically coupled with a primary winding 252 of the battery charging station 106. The primary winding 252 is connected to a power output plug 254 through a relay circuit 256, a fuse 258 and a switch 260. The relay 256 is controlled by a charger controller 262.

The charger controller 262 is connected to a charger Infrared (IR) transceiver 264. The charger IR transceiver 264 is coupled to the robot IR transceiver 266. The robot IR transceiver 266 is connected to the primary controller 52. The robot 10 may also have a calibration sensor 268 that is capable of sensing a target 270 on the charging station 106. For example, the sensor 268 may include an optical emitter and receiver that detects the light beam reflected from the target 270. The controller 52 may also sense the current into the battery 104 to determine whether the robot 12 is aligned with the charging station 106.

The secondary winding 250 is connected to the battery 104 through a charger circuit 272. Each of secondary winding 250 and primary winding 252 may have a wire 274 wrapped around a magnetic core 276. Station 106 may also have an oscillator/breaker circuit (not shown) to increase the voltage magnetically transferred to secondary winding 250.

In operation, the robot 10 moves to the battery charging station 106 autonomously or under the control of the user. The robot 10 is moved until the sensor 268 is aligned with the target 270. The primary controller 52 then sends commands to the charger controller 262 via the transceivers 264 and 266.

The charger controller 262 then closes the relay 256, wherein power is delivered to the battery 104 through the windings 250 and 252. When the battery 104 is being charged, or the battery charging process is interrupted by a user, the primary controller 52 communicates a command to the charger controller 262 to open the relay 256. The robot 10 then moves away from the charging station 106.

Figure 11 shows a vector diagram which can be used to calculate the motion of the robot according to the following equation:

wherein

w₁Is the driving angular velocity of the first ball 124.

w₂Is the driving angular velocity of the second ball 124.

w₃Is the driving angular velocity of the third ball 124.

V is the input linear velocity of the robot. V has a component V_xAnd V_yWherein; v_xV | cos θ and V_y＝|V|sinθ。

Phi is the input angular velocity of the robot.

Angular velocity vector w ═ w₁，w₂，w₃]^T。 (4)

And the velocity vector:

V＝[vx，vy，ψ]^T (6)

W＝A·V (7)

the angular velocity vector w is calculated from equation (7) and compared to the actual w value measured by the motor encoder. An algorithm executes an error correction routine to compensate for differences between actual and desired values.

While certain exemplary embodiments have been described and shown in the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that: the embodiments are merely illustrative of the broad invention and are not intended to be limiting of the broad invention, as the invention is not limited to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, since various other modifications may occur to those ordinarily skilled in the art.

Claims (3)

1. A robotic system that communicates over a broadband network, comprising:

a robot having a camera and a monitor, said robot generating at least one robot status command, said status command including information about said robot transmitted over a broadband network;

a plurality of remote stations, each of said remote stations having a camera and a monitor, each of said remote stations being capable of generating at least one control command transmitted over a broadband network and accepting status commands from said robot; and

a mediation system that controls access to the robot through one of the remote stations.

2. A method for controlling a robot over a broadband network, comprising;

mediating access to the robot between a plurality of remote consoles, each of the remote consoles having a camera and a monitor;

generating at least one control command at a remote console having access to the robot;

transmitting the control command over a broadband network;

receiving the control command at a robot, the robot having a camera and a monitor;

generating at least one robot status command at the robot, the robot status command comprising information about the robot;

transmitting the robot status command over a broadband network; and

receiving a robot status command at the remote console having access to the robot.

3. A robot connected to a remote station for operation by an operator, the remote station including a camera that captures images at the remote station, the robot comprising:

a frame;

a mobile platform attached to the frame;

a camera coupled to the gantry and movable relative to the gantry;

a monitor coupled to and moving relative to the gantry and displaying images captured at a remote station;

a high-level controller connected to the chassis and controlling communication with a remote station; and

a primary controller coupled to the frame and driving the mobile platform.