Patent ID: 9585726
Date: 2017-03-07
CPC Classifications: A61B,Y10S

Claim:
1. A method of operating a surgical system, the method comprising determining one or more position values of a surgical instrument that is included in a mechanical assembly, the mechanical assembly including a plurality of joints that correspond to a first set of degrees of freedom; estimating, with a computer, a position of each joint of the plurality of joints by applying the one or more position values to a forward-kinematic simulation of a kinematic model for the mechanical assembly, the kinematic model being characterized by a second set of degrees of freedom that includes the first set of degrees of freedom plus at least one additional degree of freedom for the surgical instrument, and the at least one additional degree of freedom for the surgical instrument being missing from the mechanical assembly; and moving the surgical instrument by controlling the mechanical assembly based on the estimated positions of the plurality of joints that correspond to the first set of degrees of freedom.