Patent ID: 11865729
Assignee: INTUITIVE SURGICAL OPERATIONS, INC.
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC B  A  G | IPC A  B

Claim 0:
1. An apparatus comprising:
a memory device non-transitorily storing program instructions; and
a processor coupled to a display device, an image capture device, and the memory device, the processor configured to execute the program instructions to:
cause images captured by the image capture device to be displayed in a viewing area on the display device;
determine a position of a tool in a reference frame of the image capture device, wherein the tool has a shaft and an end effector including opposing members coupled to the shaft;
determine a position to display a non-depictive symbol for the tool in a boundary area circumscribing the viewing area on the display device so as to indicate a direction of the determined position of the tool relative to a field of view of the image capture device, by determining a trajectory of the tool from current and past positions of the tool and by determining where an extrapolation of the trajectory enters the field of view of the image capture device, wherein the non-depictive symbol for the tool does not resemble the end effector of the tool in appearance, and wherein the position of the non-depictive symbol for the tool in the boundary area does not indicate a distance of the tool from the field of view of the image capture device; and
cause the non-depictive symbol for the tool to be displayed at the determined position in the boundary area while images that were captured by the image capture device are restricted to being displayed in the viewing area on the display device.