Patent ID: 9610131
Date: 2017-04-04
CPC Classifications: A61B

Claim:
1. A medical instrument driver for causing a medical instrument to be inserted into tissue of a patient, comprising: an upper mechanism having a translation and rotational mechanism operably coupled to a proximal portion of the medical instrument, the translation and rotational mechanism including: a lower mechanism having a distal support that is distal from the translation and rotational mechanism, the distal support having an aperture in which a distal portion of the medical instrument is slidably disposed, wherein the distal support and the translation and rotational mechanism are arranged such that the distal portion of the medical instrument moves through the aperture, and an insertable end of the medical instrument exits the aperture and is capable of being inserted into the tissue of the patient, during insertion of the medical instrument into the tissue, the upper mechanism moves along the long axis while the lower mechanism remains substantially fixed, thereby limiting movement of the medical instrument in a plane perpendicular to the long axis during the insertion, and the translation structure includes: a crank member disposed between a first rotary joint and a second rotary joint, a rod member extending between the second rotary joint and a fourth rotary joint, where the fourth rotary joint is operably coupled to the medical instrument, and a slider joint that is slidably coupled to the rod member and is disposed between the second and fourth rotary joints.