Did You Know...
...that one person who claimed to be the inventor of the television is Russian emigre Vladimir Zworykin? In 1929 David Sarnoff, founder of RCA, asked Zworykin what it would take to develop TV for commercial use. He said: a year and a half and $100,000. In reality, it took 20 years and $50 million! Before his death in 1982 at the age of 92, Zworykin said of his invention: "The technique is wonderful. It is beyond my expectations. But the programs! I would never let my children even come close to this thing."
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7803163 | Multiple instrument retaining assembly and methods therefor This patent document discusses, among other things, assemblies and methods for retaining a plurality of surgical instruments. In one example, a retaining assembly includes a floating seat having a seat first side and a seat second side. One or both of the seat first... | 09/28/2010 |
| 7803164 | Method for guiding instruments having different sizes A system and procedure for using the system are disclosed for guiding instruments of varying sizes. The instruments can be guided into various portions of the anatomy for performing a procedure, providing a treatment, measuring a physiological response, or the like.... | 09/28/2010 |
| 7794469 | Adjustable universal surgical platform A surgical platform usable for performing a surgical procedure. In one embodiment, the surgical platform comprises a base portion configured to receive at least one probe; a plurality of adjustable legs configured to support the base portion, each adjustable legs ha... | 09/14/2010 |
| 7780681 | Non-imaging, computer assisted navigation system for hip replacement surgery The invention includes: a locating system; a computer, interfaced to the locating system and interpreting the positions of tracked objects in a generic computer model of a patient's hip geometry; a software module, executable on the computer, which defines the patie... | 08/24/2010 |
| 7776055 | System and method for tracking progress of insertion of a rod in a bone A system and method for tracking progress of insertion of a rod in a bone includes a bone fragment including a central canal, a plurality of sensors including first and second sensors, and a computer. The first sensor is attached to the rod and the second sensor is ... | 08/17/2010 |
| 7776056 | Instrument guide system A system is provided to align a surgical guide instrument over a burr hole in a patient's body. Adjustments of a surgical instrument can be made in x, y, z, and angular directions using the system. An instrument guide unit can include an instrument guide for guiding... | 08/17/2010 |
| 7771436 | Surgical navigation tracker, system and method An adapter can be easily used to assist a surgical navigation system to determine the effector axis or the effector plane of a surgical device. The adapter has a body with a geometrical feature, the geometrical feature has a known relation with a navigation tracker ... | 08/10/2010 |
| 7771437 | Guide for medical devices A guide for controlling the orientation of a medical device includes a cannula having a lumen therein for the medical device, and a guide member having a passage therein for receiving and directing the medical device, the guide member being movably mounted in the ca... | 08/10/2010 |
| 7763035 | Image guided spinal surgery guide, system and method for use thereof A guide is disclosed for use in performing spinal surgery to prepare across a spinal disc and adjacent vertebrae an implantation space. The guide is associated with a computer controlled surgical navigation system employing an energy-detecting array to track positio... | 07/27/2010 |
| 7753921 | Method and apparatus for determining the position of an object Methods and apparatus for determining the orientation and the position of an object in space with the assistance of a sensing instrument are provided. The sensing instrument is provided with a marking element. The orientation and position of the marking element is d... | 07/13/2010 |
| 7744608 | Robotically controlled medical instrument A medical instrument assembly and robotic medical system are provided. The assembly comprises a shaft, a tool carried by the distal end of the shaft for performing a medical procedure on a patient, a controllably bendable section associated with shaft and disposed p... | 06/29/2010 |
| 7744607 | Marking catheter for placement using frameless stereotaxy and use thereof A marking catheter made out of a flexible material and having a closed distal end and an open proximal end is provided. The marking catheter is sized and shaped to fit over the probe of a frameless stereotaxy system. One or more marking catheters may be positioned u... | 06/29/2010 |
| 7744606 | Multi-lumen instrument guide This document discusses, among other things, a method of manufacture including a mold having at least one pin, and surrounding the pin with a hardenable material to form a first guide layer. The mold and pin are removed from the resulting first guide layer, to defin... | 06/29/2010 |
| 7744605 | Medical instrument with a touch-sensitive tip The invention relates to a medical instrument comprising an instrument body (8), an instrument tip (5) and a tracking means (1,2, 4), characterized in that said instrument tip (5) is fitted with a touch-sensor (3) which detects a c... | 06/29/2010 |
| 7736371 | Trajectory guide A trajectory guide includes a guide body defining a selected trajectory through an entry aperture or opening, engagement surfaces for insertion into the entry aperture, and a fixing mechanism coupling the guide body with the engagement surfaces. The engagement surfa... | 06/15/2010 |
| 7727244 | Sterile surgical drape An improved sterile drape, system, and method for draping portions of a telerobotic surgical system are provided. In one embodiment, a sterile drape includes an exterior surface adjacent to a sterile field for performing a surgical procedure, and an interior surface... | 06/01/2010 |
| 7704260 | Low profile instrument immobilizer This document discusses, among other things, examples of a low profile instrument immobilizer and means for positioning the same. In one example, the low profile instrument immobilizer grasps, secures, and immobilizes an electrode or other instrument that extends th... | 04/27/2010 |
| 7699854 | Trajectory guide with angled or patterned guide lumens or height adjustment This document discusses trajectory guides that include an instrument guide with at least one lumen angled with respect to an orthogonal or other through-axis. In one example, patterned lumens on the instrument guide provide a mirror image pattern of trajectory axes ... | 04/20/2010 |
| 7699855 | Sterile surgical adaptor A sterile adaptor, a sterile drape with the integrated sterile adaptor, and a telerobotic surgical system including the sterile drape with a drape interface are provided. The adaptor, drape, and system allow for draping portions of a telerobotic surgical system to m... | 04/20/2010 |
| 7695481 | Medical robotic system with different scaling factors A system for performing minimally invasive cardiac procedures includes a pair of surgical instruments coupled to a pair of robotic arms with end effectors that can be manipulated to hold and suture tissue. The robotic arms are coupled to a pair of master handles by ... | 04/13/2010 |
| 7695480 | Ball and socket trajectory guide An alignment device and method is provided. Higher precision is achieved when fixing an orientation of an insertion axis using alignment devices shown. A symmetric clamping force is provided that reduces or eliminates unwanted displacement after the desired orientat... | 04/13/2010 |
| 7686818 | Locking nail and stereotaxic apparatus therefor A stereotaxic apparatus for a locking nail which has two oscillating circuits which are disposed along the longitudinal direction of the locking nail. The apparatus has a guide sleeve to place a drill and/or bone screw which, when the stereotaxic apparatus is in an ... | 03/30/2010 |
| 7674270 | Apparatus for positioning a medical instrument The present device provides an apparatus for securely positioning a medical instrument relative to a patient. The apparatus comprises a drive assembly for moving the medical instrument along a first axis that is substantially parallel to the length of the instrument... | 03/09/2010 |
| 7666191 | Robotic surgical system with sterile surgical adaptor A sterile drape with integrated sterile adaptor, a telerobotic surgical system, and method of use are provided for draping portions of a telerobotic surgical system to maintain a sterile barrier between the sterile surgical field and the non-sterile robotic system w... | 02/23/2010 |
| 7651506 | Frameless stereotactic guidance of medical procedures Devices, methods and systems for frameless guidance of image-based medical procedures such as stereotactic radiotherapy and surgery. Devices including custom fitting subject-specific articles include contoured surfaces that provide spatial reference to the location ... | 01/26/2010 |
| 7648513 | Surgical manipulator for a telerobotic system 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) fixable by passive or power driven positioning devices to a surface, such as... | 01/19/2010 |
| 7625383 | Surgical manipulator The present invention provides a surgical manipulator which capable of manipulating a surgical or medical tool in up to six degrees of freedom. The manipulator has a relatively lightweight, compact design as a result of the use of high force to mass ratio actuators.... | 12/01/2009 |
| 7608083 | Robotically controlled medical instrument with a flexible section A robotically controlled medical instrument includes a bending section with a unibody construction, a tool supported at a distal end of the bending section and used to perform a medical procedure on a subject such as a human patient, and an electronic controller tha... | 10/27/2009 |
| 7604645 | Ultrasound probe support and stepping device The present invention provides an apparatus for guiding a medical instrument. The medical apparatus includes a bracket member having a cavity dimensioned and configured to receive at least a portion of a medical instrument. A carriage member is slidably connected to... | 10/20/2009 |
| 7559935 | Target depth locators for trajectory guide for introducing an instrument This document discusses, among other things, examples of a stereotactic apparatus that includes reticles or other imagable locators for confirming placement of an instrument introduced along a desired trajectory. In certain examples, the reticles are re-positionable... | 07/14/2009 |
| 7524320 | Mechanical actuator interface system for robotic surgical tools Robotic surgical tools, systems, and methods for preparing for and performing robotic surgery include a memory mounted on the tool. The memory can perform a number of functions when the tool is loaded on the tool manipulator: first, the memory can provide a signal v... | 04/28/2009 |
| 7507244 | Radiolucent skull clamp with removable pin load applicator A skull pin assembly for use with a skull clamp includes a skull pin that is slidable into contact with a head of a patient. A pin load applicator is removably connectable to the skull pin assembly and includes a loading shaft that is able to apply a force against a... | 03/24/2009 |
| 7497868 | Method and apparatus for computerized surgery An implant for use in spinal surgery comprises a resilient element having an inflatable cavity. It is formed of a biologically compatible material and is arranged for placement between end plates of adjacent vertebra. The implant may also include a wound disc replac... | 03/03/2009 |
| 7497863 | Instrument guiding stage apparatus and method for using same This documents describes among other things a normalizing stage apparatus, tools and methods. One example includes a base that defines a trajectory. A first stage is moveably coupled to the base and the first stage moves along the trajectory. A second stage is movea... | 03/03/2009 |
| 7479146 | Cranial burr hole plug and insertion tool A cranial burr hole plug with an insertion tool and method of implantation is provided. The burr hole plug includes a shell; a collet interlocked within the shell; a clamp compressing the collet around an elongated medical device exiting the skull of a patient, such... | 01/20/2009 |
| 7458977 | Surgical navigation instrument useful in marking anatomical structures A surgical instrument having a grip, a reference structure and an alignment head and method of using. The reference structure has at least one reference element that is registrable in a computer assisted navigation system. The reference element may be a reflective s... | 12/02/2008 |
| 7430457 | Robot teaching program editing apparatus based on voice input Candidate character strings representing objects disposed in a work cell, models for robot operation instructions which has variable parts, and robot commands related to the objects are defined in advance. By inputting a query such as ‘Workpiece 1 ?’ by voice, t... | 09/30/2008 |
| 7427272 | Method for locating the mechanical axis of a femur There is described a method for determining a mechanical axis of a femur using a computer aided surgery system having an output device for displaying said mechanical axis, the method comprising: providing a position sensing system having a tracking device capable of... | 09/23/2008 |
| 7403811 | Method of catheter tracking using image information An improved method of tracking a catheter's position within a human body does not rely on x-rays, but instead calculates the position of the catheter's imaging head by analyzing image data. Such an analysis is able to determine the position of the imaging head in 3 ... | 07/22/2008 |
| 7397364 | Digital wireless position sensor A method is provided for tracking an object, including positioning a radio frequency (RF) driver to radiate an RF driving field toward the object, and fixing to the object a wireless transponder that includes a power coil and at least one sensor coil. The method als... | 07/08/2008 |
