Surgical instrument

摘要

A surgical instrument having an elongated arm and a distal end mounted with a pivot joint on the elongated arm. A drive shaft substantially coaxial with the elongated arm forms a universal joint facing the pivot joint. A distal tool is securely fastened on the drive shaft and rotatively mounted on and in the extension of the distal end of the elongated arm, such that the distal tool has two rotational degree of freedom, distinct and independent of each other, one being around an axis substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the elongated arm and the other being around an axis substantially collinear to an own axis of the distal tool. The elongated arm includes a plurality of linking elements mounted in series to form the pivot joint. The universal joint is a Cardan joint.

主权项

1. A surgical instrument (1) comprising:
an elongated arm (11; 307) extending along a longitudinal axis and having a distal end (2; 305) coupled to said elongated arm via a pivot joint structure around an axis orthogonal to the longitudinal axis; a drive shaft (3) coaxial with the elongated arm comprising a universal joint structure facing the pivot joint structure; and, a distal tool (9) coupled to the drive shaft via the universal joint structure and rotationally coupled to the distal end of the elongated arm, such that the distal tool has two rotational degrees of freedom, distinct and independent of each other, one being around an axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the elongated arm and the other being around an axis collinear to an own axis of the distal tool; wherein the pivot joint structure comprises a plurality of linking elements mounted in series, with two adjacent linking elements including a limited pivot joint, and the universal joint structure comprises a plurality of Cardan joints (320, 330, 340, 350), wherein there are an equal number of Cardan joints and limited pivot joints (310), wherein each said Cardan joint (320) comprises two end elements (321, 323) mounted on either side of a central element (322), each end element (321, 323) being mounted with a pivot joint on the central element (322) around pivot axes perpendicular to each other.