Patent Publication Number: US-2019175293-A1

Title: Image guidance for a decoupled kinematic control of a remote-center-of-motion

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present disclosure generally relates to robots utilized during various interventional procedures (e.g., laparoscopic surgery, neurosurgery, spinal surgery, natural orifice transluminal surgery, pulmonary/bronchoscopy surgery, biopsy, ablation, and diagnostic interventions). The present disclosure specifically relates to an image guidance of a decoupled spatial positioning and spatial orienting control of an intervention robot. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Minimally invasive surgery is performed using elongated instruments inserted into the patient&#39;s body through small ports. More particularly, the small ports that are placed on the patient&#39;s body are the only incision points through which the instruments may pass through to access the inside of the patient. As such, the instruments may be operated to rotate around these fulcrum points, but the instruments should not be operated in a manner that imposes translational forces on the ports to prevent any potential injury and harm to the patient. This is especially important for robotic guided surgery. 
     To the end, some known robots implement what is known as a remote-center-of-motion (RCM) at the fulcrum point whereby a robot enforces an operating principle that only rotation of an instrument can be performed at a port and all translational forces of the instrument at that port are eliminated. This can be achieved by implementing a mechanical design which has the RCM at a specific location in space, and then aligning that point in space with the port. Alternatively, the RCM can be implemented virtually within the software of a robotic system, provided sufficient degrees of freedom exist to ensure the constraints of the RCM can be met. 
     Constraint robots, such as RCM robots, are challenging to control. Such robots usually implement at least five (5) joints of which (3) joints are used to position the RCM and at least two (2) joint are used to orient the RCM. Due to kinematic constraints, mapping between the joints and space degrees of freedom is not intuitive. Furthermore, the safety of these such robots can be compromised if the user accidentally moves the RCM after the instrument is inserted into the patient body. The computationally constraint systems for such robots are even more difficult to operate as those constraints are less intuitive. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present disclosure provides a control of a robotic apparatus employing a robot manipulator and an intervention robot whereby the control utilizes image guidance to independently control the robot manipulator and the intervention robot for a spatial positioning and a spatial orienting, respectively, of the intervention robot. For example, during a surgical intervention, the robotic apparatus is controlled by image guidance for a manual actuation of the robot manipulator to independently spatially position the intervention robot to coincide with an insertion point into a body as supported by an operating table serving as a reference plane, and for a signal actuation of the intervention to independently spatially orient an end-effector of the intervention robot to orient an intervention instrument supported by the intervention robot in an intuitive view of the operating table again serving as the reference plane. 
     One form of the inventions of the present disclosure is a robotic system employing a robotic apparatus and a robot controller for executing an interventional procedure. 
     The robotic apparatus includes an intervention robot mounted unto a robot manipulator. A structural configuration of the intervention robot defines a remote-center-of-motion (RCM). 
     For a spatial positioning of the intervention robot, the robot controller controls a manual actuation of a translational motion and/or a rotational motion of the robot manipulator directed to a spatial positioning of the intervention robot within a kinematic space of the robot manipulator derived from a delineation of a spatial positioning of the remote-center-of-motion within an image space. 
     For a spatial orienting of the an end-effector of the intervention robot, the robot controller controls a signal actuation of a pitch motion and/or a yaw motion of the intervention robot directed to a spatial orienting of the end-effector of the intervention robot within a kinematic space of the intervention robot derived from a delineation of a spatial orienting of the remote-center-of-motion within the image space. 
     A second form of the inventions of the present disclosure is a control network including the robot controller and further including an image controller controlling a communication to the robot controller of the delineations of the spatial positioning and the spatial orienting of the remote-center-of-motion within the image space 
     A third form of the inventions of the present disclosure is a method for controlling the robot manipulator and the intervention robot of the robot apparatus. 
     For a spatial positioning of the intervention robot, the method involves the robot controller controlling a manual actuation of a translational motion and/or a rotational motion of the robot manipulator directed to a spatial positioning of the intervention robot within a kinematic space of the robot manipulator derived from a delineation of a spatial positioning of the remote-center-of-motion within an image space. 
     For a spatial orienting of the end-effector of the intervention robot, the method further involves the robot controller controlling a signal actuation of a pitch motion and/or a yaw motion of the intervention robot directed to a spatial orienting of the end-effector of the intervention robot within a kinematic space of the intervention robot derived from a delineation of a spatial orienting of the remote-center-of-motion within the image space. 
     For purposes of the present disclosure, 
     (1) the term “robot manipulator” broadly encompasses any mechanical device having a structural configuration, as understood in the art of the present disclosure and as exemplary described herein, one or more articulated joints (e.g., prismatic joints and/or revolute joints) capable of a manual actuation of a translational motion and/or a rotational motion of segments and/or links in one or more degrees of freedom; 
     (2) the term “manual actuation” broadly encompasses, as understood in the art of the present disclosure and as exemplary described herein, an operator of the robot manipulator utilizing hands, mechanical device(s), etc. to actuate the translational motion and/or the rotational motion of the segments and/or links in one or more degrees of freedom; 
     (3) the phrase “kinematic space of the robot manipulator” broadly encompasses, as understood in the art of the present disclosure and as exemplary described herein, a spatial area traversable by the intervention robot over a range of translational motion and/or a range of rotational motion of the robot manipulator; 
     (4) the term “intervention robot” broadly encompasses any robot having a structural configuration, as understood in the art of the present disclosure and as exemplary described herein, including two or more revolute joints and an end-effector whereby an intersection of axes of the revolute joints and the end-effector defines a remote-center-of-motion at a fulcrum point in space whereby an instrument held by the end-effector may be pitched, yawed and/or rolled at the remote-center-of-motion; 
     (5) the term “signal actuation” broadly encompasses, as understood in the art of the present disclosure and as exemplary described herein, an application of a signal to the revolute joints of the intervention robot to thereby drive an actuation of the pitch motion and/or the yaw motion of the intervention robot; 
     (6) the phrase “kinematic space of the intervention robot” broadly encompasses, as understood in the art of the present disclosure and as exemplary described herein, a spatial area enclosing a range of pitch motion and/or a range of yaw motion of the intervention robot; 
     (7) the phrase “a delineation of a spatial positioning of the remote-center-of-motion within the image space” broadly encompasses, as understood in the art of the present disclosure and as exemplary described herein, a user delineation of a position of the remote-center-of-motion within a diagnostic image whereby the user delineation corresponds to a desired insertion point into a patient illustrated in the diagnostic image; 
     (8) the phrase “a delineation of a spatial orienting of the remote-center-of-motion within the image space” broadly encompasses, as understood in the art of the present disclosure and as exemplary described herein, a user delineation of an orientation of the remote-center-of-motion within a diagnostic image whereby the user delineation corresponds to a desired axial orientation of an end-effector of the intervention robot relative to a desired insertion point into a patient illustrated in the diagnostic image or whereby the user delineation corresponds to a desired axial orientation of an intervention tool supported by the end-effector of the intervention robot relative to the desired insertion point into the patient illustrated in the diagnostic image; 
     (9) the term “image space” broadly encompasses, as understood in the art of the present disclosure and as exemplary described herein, a spatial area imaged by a imaging modality; 
     (10) the term “controller” broadly encompasses all structural configurations, as understood in the art of the present disclosure and as exemplary described herein, of an application specific main board or an application specific integrated circuit for controlling an application of various inventive principles of the present disclosure as subsequently described herein. The structural configuration of the controller may include, but is not limited to, processor(s), computer-usable/computer readable storage medium(s), an operating system, application module(s), peripheral device controller(s), slot(s) and port(s). A controller may be housed or linked to a workstation. Examples of a “workstation” include, but are not limited to, an assembly of one or more computing devices, a display/monitor, and one or more input devices (e.g., a keyboard, joysticks and mouse) in the form of a standalone computing system, a client computer, a desktop or a tablet. 
     (11) the descriptive labels for term “controller” herein facilitates a distinction between controllers as described and claimed herein without specifying or implying any additional limitation to the term “controller”; 
     (12) the term “module” broadly encompasses a module incorporated within or accessible by a controller consisting of an electronic circuit and/or an executable program (e.g., executable software stored on non-transitory computer readable medium(s) and/firmware) for executing a specific application; 
     (13) the descriptive labels for term “module” herein facilitates a distinction between modules as described and claimed herein without specifying or implying any additional limitation to the term “module”; 
     (14) the terms “signal” and “data” broadly encompasses all forms of a detectable physical quantity or impulse (e.g., voltage, current, or magnetic field strength) as understood in the art of the present disclosure and as exemplary described herein for transmitting information in support of applying various inventive principles of the present disclosure as subsequently described herein; 
     (15) the descriptive labels for term “signal” herein facilitates a distinction between signals as described and claimed herein without specifying or implying any additional limitation to the term “signal”; and 
     (16) the descriptive labels for term “data” herein facilitates a distinction between data as described and claimed herein without specifying or implying any additional limitation to the term “data”. 
     The foregoing forms and other forms of the inventions of the present disclosure as well as various features and advantages of the present disclosure will become further apparent from the following detailed description of various embodiments of the present disclosure read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The detailed description and drawings are merely illustrative of the present disclosure rather than limiting, the scope of the present disclosure being defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a robotic system in accordance with the inventive principles of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates block diagrams of a first exemplary embodiment of an image controller and a robot controller in accordance with the inventive principles of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates block diagrams of a second exemplary embodiment of an image controller and a robot controller in accordance with the inventive principles of the present disclosure. 
         FIGS. 4A and 4B  illustrates a side view and a top view, respectively, of a schematic diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a robot manipulator in accordance with the inventive principles of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 5A-5D  illustrates exemplary embodiments of various position indicators in accordance with the inventive principles of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 6  illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an intervention robot as known in the art. 
         FIG. 7  illustrates an exemplary interventional procedure in accordance with the inventive principles of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 8  illustrates a flowchart representative of an exemplary embodiment of a robot apparatus control method in accordance with the inventive principles of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 9A  illustrates a flowchart representative of an exemplary embodiment of a robot manipulator control method in accordance with the inventive principles of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 9B  illustrates a flowchart representative of an exemplary embodiment of an intervention robot control method in accordance with the inventive principles of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     To facilitate an understanding of the present disclosure, the following description of  FIG. 1  teaches basic inventive principles of a robotic apparatus employing a robot manipulator and an intervention robot, and a robotic control method implementing an image guidance to independently control a manual actuation of the robot manipulator for a desired spatial positioning of the intervention robot as user delineated within an image space, and to further control a signal actuation of the intervention robot for a desired spatial orienting of an end-effector of the intervention robot, particularly a desired spatial orienting of an end-effector tool of the intervention robot or of an intervention tool supported by the end-effector, as user delineated within an image space. From this description, those having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate how to apply the inventive principles of the present disclosure to numerous and various types of interventional procedures. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a robotic system of the present disclosure employs a robot controller  20 , and a robotic apparatus including an intervention robot  40  removably or permanently mounted to a robot manipulator  30 . 
     Robot controller  20  receives an input  13  illustrative/informative of a user delineation of a position of the remote-center-of-motion RCM within a diagnostic image  12  whereby the user delineation corresponds to a desired insertion point into a patient  10  illustrated in diagnostic image  12 . Input  13  is further illustrative/informative of a user delineation of an orientation of the remote-center-of-motion RCM within diagnostic image  12  whereby the user delineation corresponds to a desired axial orientation of an end-effector of intervention robot  40  relative to the desired insertion point into patient P illustrated in diagnostic image  12 , or whereby the user delineation corresponds to a desired axial orientation of an intervention tool supported by the end-effector of intervention robot  40  relative to the desired insertion point into patient P illustrated in diagnostic image  12 . 
     In practice, any type of imaging modality as known in the art suitable for an interventional procedure may be utilized to generate diagnostic image  12  (e.g., a computed-tomography (CT) modality, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) modality, an X-ray modality, an ultrasound (US) modality, etc.). Also in practice, input  13  may be have any form suitable for communicating the spatial positioning and spatial orienting of intervention robot  40  as delineated within the image space of diagnostic image  12  including, but not limited to, image data corresponding to diagnostic image  12  or coordinate data informative of the spatial positioning and spatial orienting of the remote-center-of-motion RCM within the image space of diagnostic image  12  as registered to a kinematic space  50  of robot manipulator  30 . 
     Robot controller  20  processes input  13  to independently control a manual actuation of robot manipulator  30  via joint position command(s) JPC as will be further described herein, or to independently control a signal actuation of intervention robot  40  via an interventional drive signal IDS as will be further described herein. 
     In practice, robot controller  20  may be housed within or linked to a workstation wired to or wirelessly connected to the imaging modality, or may be housed within a workstation of the imaging modality. 
     Robot manipulator  30  includes one (1) or more articulated joints (not shown) (e.g., prismatic joint(s), and/or revolute joint(s)) providing one (1) or more degrees of freedom for translational motion and/or rotational motion of segments/links and end-effector (not shown) of robot manipulator  30  as manually actuated by an operator of robot manipulator  30  in accordance with joint position command(s) JPC. A range of translational motion and/or a range of rotational motion of the segment/links and end-effector define a kinematic space of robot manipulator  30  as will be further described herein. 
     In one embodiment of robot manipulator  30 , one or more articulated joints extend between a base segment/link, and an end-effector for mounting intervention robot  40  upon robot manipulator  30 . For this embodiment, any translational motion and/or rotational motion of the segments/links and end-effector of robot manipulator  30  is based on the base segment/link serving as a point of origin of the kinematic space of robot manipulator  30 . 
     Intervention robot  40  includes one (1) or more arms and/or arcs (not shown) supporting two (2) or more actuators (not shown) in a structural configuration having rotational axes of the actuators intersecting in at a fulcrum point within a kinematic space of intervention robot  40  defining the remote-center-of-motion RCM as will be further described herein. Intervention robot  40  further includes an end-effector (not shown) for holding an intervention instrument whereby the remote-center-of-motion RCM is positioned along an axis of the end-effector and/or an axis of the intervention instrument to establish a workspace defined by motion of the intervention instrument. 
     For example, the end-effector of intervention robot  40  holds an intervention instrument  60  whereby the remote-center-of-motion RCM is positioned along a longitudinal axis of intervention instrument  60  having a workspace  61 . In practice, a specified embodiment of intervention instrument is dependent upon the particular interventional procedure being executed by the robotic system. Examples of an intervention instrument include, but are not limited to, surgical instruments and viewing/imaging instruments (e.g., an endo scope). 
     Still referring to  FIG. 1 , a spatial positioning operation generally involves robot controller  20  controlling a manual actuation of spatial positioning of intervention robot  40  at a coordinate point within the kinematic space of robot manipulator  30  that corresponds to a delineated spatial position of the remote-center-of-motion RCM of intervention robot  40  at a coordinate point within the image space of diagnostic image  12 . Intervention robot  40  is removably or permanently mounted in any suitable manner to robot manipulator  30  to move in unison with any manual actuation by an operator of robot manipulator  30 . Upon reaching the directed coordinate point, a spatially orienting operation generally involves robot controller  20  controlling a signal actuation of intervention robot  40  as needed to spatially orient an end-effector of intervention robot  40  at an orientation within a kinematic space of intervention robot  40  that is registered to the spatial orientation of the remote-center-of-motion RCM of intervention robot  40  about the coordinate point within the image space of diagnostic image  12 . 
     For example, an exemplary operation of the robotic system is shown in  FIG. 1 . Note intervention robot  40  mounted to robot manipulator  30  is not shown for visual clarity in the description of an exemplary spatial positioning operation and an exemplary spatial orienting operation of the robotic system. Nonetheless, those skilled in the art will appreciate the remote-center-of-motion RCM is symbolic of robot manipulator  30  and intervention robot  40  for purposes of the exemplary operation. 
     In the example, a spatial positioning by the operator of intervention robot  40  being positioned at coordinate point within a kinematic space  50  of robot manipulator  30  symbolized by a coordinate system X MR -Y MR -Z MR  having a point of origin  51  involves:
         (1) robot controller  20  processing input  13  to identify a coordinate point RCM P  within kinematic space  50  of robot manipulator  30  that corresponds to a delineated spatial position of the remote-center-of-motion RCM of intervention robot  40  at a coordinate point within the image space of diagnostic image  12 , and   (2) robot controller  20  communicating the joint position command(s) JPC informative of a position setting of one or more articulated joints of robot manipulator  30  for a manual actuation of any translational motion and/or rotational motion of the articulated joint(s) necessary to thereby spatially position the remote-center-of-motion RCM of intervention robot  40  at coordinate point RCM P .       

     In practice, a joint position command JPC may be in any suitable form for communicating the position setting of one or more articulated joints of robot manipulator  30  including, but not limited to, a textual display of a joint position setting, an audible broadcast of a joint position setting, and a graphical image of the joint position setting as will be further described herein. 
     Also by example as shown in  FIG. 1 , a spatial orienting of an end-effector of intervention robot  40  at an orientation about the coordinate point RCM P  within a kinematic system of intervention robot  40  symbolized by coordinate system X YAW -axis, a Y PITCH -axis and a Z ROLL -axis involves:
         (1) robot controller  20  processing input  13  to identify an orientation of an end-effector of intervention robot  40  or an intervention instrument supported by the end-effector, about the coordinate point RCM P  that corresponds to a delineated spatial orientation of the remote-center-of-motion RCM of intervention robot  40  at a coordinate point within the image space of diagnostic image  12 , and   (2) robot controller  20  transmitting an interventional drive signal IDS to intervention robot  40  for a signal actuation of a pitch motion and/or yaw motion of the arms/arcs of intervention robot  40  to spatially orient the end-effector of intervention robot  40  at orientation RCM O  about coordinate point RCM P  within the kinematic space of intervention robot  40 .       

     To further facilitate an understanding of the present disclosure, the following description of  FIGS. 2-6  describes exemplary embodiments of an image controller (not shown in  FIG. 1 ), robot controller  20 , robot manipulator  30  and intervention robot  40  for practicing the basic inventive principles of  FIG. 1 . From this description, those having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate how to apply the inventive principles of the present invention to numerous and various embodiments of user input device  10 , robot controller  20 , robot manipulator  30  and intervention robot  40 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , an embodiment  120   a  of robot controller  20  ( FIG. 1 ) employs a delineating module  121 , a registering module  122 , a mapping module  123 , a spatial positioning module  125  and a spatial orienting module  126  for processing image data corresponding to diagnostic image  12  or coordinate data informative of the spatial positioning and spatial orienting of the remote-center-of-motion RCM of intervention robot  40  within the image space of diagnostic image  12  as registered to a kinematic space  50  of robot manipulator  30 . 
     Specifically, an image controller  110   a  employs a planning module  111  implementing known planning techniques of the art for planning in insertion point and insertion angle of an intervention instrument within a diagnostic image  11  of a patient  10  generated by an imaging modality (e.g., CT, cone-beam CT, MRI, X-ray, US, etc.) to thereby generate diagnostic image  12 . 
     Image controller  110   a  communicates a live version or a stored version of diagnostic image  12  to robot controller  120   a  whereby delineating module  121  generates registered robot data RRD informative of a spatial positioning and a spatial orienting of intervention robot  40  within the respective kinematic spaces of robot manipulator  30  and intervention robot  40 . More particularly, registering module  122  generates a transformation matrix T based on a registration by any known technique of robot manipulator  30  and intervention robot  40  as a single robot apparatus to the imaging modality of diagnostic image  11 , and delineating module  121  generates registered robot data RRD by applying transformation matrix T to diagnostic image  12 . 
     Mapping module  123  includes a spatial positioning map  124  for processing the spatial position information of registered robot data RRD to thereby generate joint position settings JPS informative of a position of each articulated joint of robot manipulator  50  for spatially positioning intervention robot  40  within the kinematic space of robot manipulator  30 . In response thereto, spatial positioning module  126  generates joint position command(s) JPC (e.g., a textual display, an audible broadcast and/or graphical image) for any necessary manual actuation of a translational motion and/or a rotational motion of a robot manipulator  130  ( FIG. 5 ) as will be further described herein. 
     Mapping module  123  further includes a spatial orienting map  125  for processing the spatial orientation information of registered robot data RRD to thereby generate a spatial orienting signal SOS as any necessary angular vector transformation of the spatial orientation information as will be further described herein. In response thereto, spatial orientating module  127  generate an interventional drive signal IDS for driving a pitch motion and/or a yaw motion of an intervention robot  140  ( FIG. 6 ) as will be further described herein. 
     In practice, image controller  110   a  and robot controller  120   a  may be separate controllers housed or linked to the same workstation or different workstations, or may be integrated into a single master controller housed or linked to the same workstation. For example, image controller  110   a  may be housed within a workstation of the imaging modality, and robot controller  120   a  may be housed within a workstation of the robotic apparatus. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , an embodiment  120   b  of robot controller  20  ( FIG. 1 ) employs mapping module  123 , spatial positioning module  125  and spatial orienting module  126  for processing registered robot data RRD as previously described for  FIG. 2 . For robot controller  120   b,  an image controller  110  employs planning module  111 , a registering module  112  and a delineating module  113  for generating registered robot data RD as previously described for  FIG. 2 . 
     In practice, image controller  110   b  and robot controller  120   b  may be separate controllers housed or linked to the same workstation or different workstations, or may be integrated into a single master controller housed or linked to the same workstation. For example, image controller  110   b  may be housed within a workstation of the imaging modality, and robot controller  120   b  may be housed within a workstation of the robotic apparatus. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 4A and 4B , an embodiment  130  of robot manipulator  30  ( FIG. 1 ) employs a prismatic joint  131   a  connecting rigid links  134   a  and  134   b,  a revolute joint  132  connecting rigid links  134   b  and  134   c,  a prismatic joint  131   b  connecting rigid links  134   c  and  134   d,  and an end-effector  135  for removably or permanently mounting of intervention robot  140  ( FIG. 5 ) thereon. 
     In operation, link  134   a  serves as a base link for a point of origin of a kinematic space  150  of robot manipulator  130 . When manually actuated by an operator of robot manipulator  130 , prismatic joint  131   a  translationally moves links  134   b,    134   c  and  134   d  and end-effector  135  in unison along the Z-axis of kinematic space  150  of robot manipulator  130  as best shown in  FIG. 4A . 
     When manually actuated by an operator of robot manipulator  130 , revolute joint  132  rotationally moves  134   c  and  134   d  and end-effector  135  in unison about the Z-axis of kinematic space  150  of robot manipulator  130  as best shown in  FIG. 4B . 
     When manually actuated by an operator of robot manipulator  130 , prismatic joint  131   b  translationally moves link  134   d  and end-effector  135  in unison along the X-axis and/or the Y-axis of kinematic space  150  robot manipulator  130  as shown in  FIGS. 4A and 4B . 
     Referring to  FIG. 5A , spatially positioning module  126  may control a textual display  70  of a target joint position of prismatic joints  131   a  and  131   b  and revolute joint  132 . 
     From textual display  70 , prismatic joint  131   a  may employ a linear encoder for a textual indication  71   a  of a current joint position of prismatic joint  131   a  as shown in  FIG. 5B  whereby an operator of robot manipulator  130  may ascertain any necessary translational motion of prismatic joint  131   a  to reach the target joint position of prismatic joint  131   a.    
     Similarly, revolute joint  132  may employ a rotary encoder for a textual indication  71   b  of a current joint position of revolute joint  132  as shown in  FIG. 5B  whereby an operator of robot manipulator  130  may ascertain any necessary rotational motion revolute joint  132  to reach the target joint position of revolute joint  132 . 
     Similarly, prismatic joint  131   b  may employ a linear encoder for a textual display  71   c  of a current joint position of prismatic joint  131   b  as shown in  FIG. 5B  whereby an operator of robot manipulator  130  may ascertain any necessary translational motion of prismatic joint  131   b  to reach the target joint position of prismatic joint  131   b.    
     Alternatively from textual display  70 , prismatic joint  131   a  may employ a measurement scale for a textual indication  72   a  of a current joint position of prismatic joint  131   a  as shown in  FIG. 5C  whereby an operator of robot manipulator  130  may ascertain any necessary translational motion of prismatic joint  131   a  to reach the target joint position of prismatic joint  131   a.    
     Similarly, revolute joint  132  may employ a measurement scale for a textual indication  72   b  of a current joint position of revolute joint  132  as shown in  FIG. 5C  whereby an operator of robot manipulator  130  may ascertain any necessary rotational motion revolute joint  132  to reach the target joint position of revolute joint  132 . 
     Similarly, prismatic joint  131   b  may employ measurement markers for a textual display  72   c  of a current joint position of prismatic joint  131   b  as shown in  FIG. 5C  whereby an operator of robot manipulator  130  may ascertain any necessary translational motion of prismatic joint  131   b  to reach the target joint position of prismatic joint  131   b.    
     Referring to  FIG. 5D , alternate to textual display  70 , a graphical image  73   a  may be displayed as a visual indication of a relative distance between a current joint position of prismatic joint  131   a  and a target joint position  134   b ′, a graphical image  73   b  may be displayed as a visual indication of a relative distance between a current joint position of revolute joint  132  and a target joint position  134   c ′, and a graphical image  73   c  may be displayed as a visual indication of a relative distance between a current joint position of prismatic joint  131   b  and a target joint position  134   d ′. Graphical images are updated as joints are moved to reach the target positions. 
     Referring to  FIG. 6 , an embodiment  140  of intervention robot  40  ( FIG. 1 ) employs an revolute joint  141  having a primary axis PA 2 , an revolute joint  142  having a secondary axis SA 2 , a support arc  143 , and an instrument arc  144  including an end-effector  145  for holding an endoscope  160  having a longitudinal axis LA 2 . Support arc  143  is concentrically connected to revolute joint  141  and revolute joint  142 , and instrument arc  144  is concentrically connected to revolute joint  142 . Of importance,
         (1) rotational axes PA 2 , RAD and LA 2  intersect at a remote-center-of-motion  146 ,   (2) a base arch length of θ B  of support arc  143  extends between rotation axes PA 2  and SA 2 ,   (3) an extension arc length θ E3  of instrument arc  144   a  extends between rotation axes PA 2  and LA 2 ,   (4) a range of pitch motion and a range of yaw motion of end-effector  145  about remote-center-of motion  146  defines a kinematic space of intervention robot  140 ,   (5) a workspace  161  relative to remote-center-of-motion  146  has surface and base dimensions derived from base arch length of θ B3  of support arc  143  and extension arc length θ E3  of instrument arc  144   a,      (6) revolute joint  141  may be driven by the robot controller as known in the art to co-rotate arcs  143  and  144   a  about primary axis PA 2  for a desired (pi degrees to control a broad movement of a distal tip  160   d  of endoscope  160  within workspace  161 ,   (7) revolute joint  142  may be driven by the robot controller as known in the art to rotate instrument arc  144  about secondary axis SA 2  for a desired φ 2  degrees to control a targeted movement of distal tip  160   d  of endoscope  160  within workspace  161 , and   (8) end effector  161  has a capability, manual or controlled by the robot controller, of rotating endoscope  160  about its longitudinal axis LA 2 .       

     To facilitate a further understanding of the inventive principles of the present disclosure, image controller  110  ( FIGS. 2 and 3 ), robot controller  120  ( FIGS. 2 and 3 ), robot manipulator  130  ( FIG. 4 ) and intervention robot  140  ( FIG. 6 ) within a surgical environment will now be described herein in connection with  FIGS. 7-9 . From the description, those having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate how to operate numerous and various embodiments of an image controller, a robot controller, a robot manipulator and an intervention robot within any type of operational environment in accordance with the inventive principles of the present disclosure. 
     Referring to  FIG. 7 , the surgical environment includes an image controller  110 , a robot controller  120 , robot manipulator  130 , and intervention robot  140  as previously described herein, and additionally includes an interventional X-ray imager  100 , an intervention tool  160  (e.g., a surgical instrument) and a workstation  90  employing a monitor  91 , a keyboard  92  and a computer  93 . 
     As known in the art, interventional X-ray imager  80  generally includes an X-ray source  81 , an image detector  82  and a collar  83  for rotating interventional X-ray imager  80 . In operation as known in the art, an X-ray controller  84  controls a generation by interventional X-ray imager  80  of imaging data  85  illustrative of a cone-beam CT image of the anatomical object of a patient  101 . 
     In practice, X-ray controller  84  may be installed within an X-ray imaging workstation (not shown), or alternatively installed within workstation  90 . 
     Also in practice, interventional X-ray imager  80  may further employ a camera  86  rigidly attached to the C-arm with a known transformation between a camera coordinate system and the C-arm. The surgical procedure involves a spatial positioning and a spatial orienting of the remote-center-of-motion  146  of intervention robot  140  to coincide with an insertion port  102  of patient  101  resting on an operating table  100  with the surface of operating table  100  serving as a reference plane  103 . To this end, various controls  94  are installed on computer  93 , particularly image controller  110  and robot controller  120 , and imaging data  110  is communicated to image controller  110  to provide an image guidance of robot manipulator  130  and intervention robot  140 . 
     Generally, prior to patient  101  resting on operating table  100 , robot manipulator  130  is affixed to operating table  100  with intervention robot  140  being spaced from operating table  100  to enable patient  101  to rest thereon. 
     Additionally, the robotic apparatus is registered to a interventional X-ray imager  80  as will be further explained below, and a communication  96 , wired or wireless, is established between workstation  90  and robots  130  and  140 . 
     Generally, upon patient  101  resting on operating table  100  with insertion point  102  of patient  101  being within the kinematic space of robot manipulator  130 , intervention robot  140  is positioned at a starting coordinate position within the kinematic space of robot manipulator  130 . Additionally, an intra-operative image of patient  101  is registered to the robotic apparatus. 
       FIG. 8  illustrates a flowchart  170  representative of a robotic control method implemented by image controller  110  and robot controller  120 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 8 , a stage S 172  of flowchart  170  encompasses image controller  110  controlling, within the cone-beam CT image of patient  101  as generated by interventional X-ray imager  80  and displayed on monitor  91 , an operator of workstation  90  delineating a planned insertion port of patient  101  as known in the art and further delineating a planned insertion angle of intervention tool  160  as known in the art. 
     A stage S 174  of flowchart  170  encompasses image controller  110  or robot controller  120  controlling a registration of the robot apparatus to cone-beam CT image. 
     For embodiments of stage S 174  involving a cone-beam CT image acquisition subsequent to a mounting of the robot apparatus to table  100 , an automatic registration as known in the art may be executed based on a detection of an illustration of the mounted robot apparatus within the cone-beam CT image. 
     For embodiments of stage S 174  involving a cone-beam CT image acquisition prior to a mounting of the robot apparatus to table  100  to avoid robot/imager collisions and/or image artefacts, then the cone-bean CT image may be utilized to indicate a position of the robot apparatus in a coordinate frame of fluoroscopic imager  80  whereby the indicated position is correlated to a known position of the robot apparatus via encoders or other position indicators, and the correlated position is implicitly registered through C-arm geometry to the cone-beam CT image. 
     Alternatively, for embodiments of stage S 714  further involving camera  86 , then video images generated by camera  86  may be utilized to register the robot apparatus to the cone-beam CT image by utilizing two (2) or more camera images of the robot and triangulating a position of an image based marker (e.g., an image pattern) of the robot apparatus with a known relationship to the robot coordinate frame, or if the robot apparatus is not equipped with an image based, marker, by utilizing video images of camera  86  to indicate a position of the robot apparatus in a coordinate frame of fluoroscopic imager  80  whereby the indicated position is correlated to a known position of the robot apparatus via encoders or other position indicators, and the correlated position is implicitly registered through C-arm geometry to the cone-beam CT image. 
     A stage S 176  of flowchart  170  encompasses a manual actuation by the operator of workstation  90  of robot manipulator  130  of a translation motion and/or a rotational motion of robot manipulator  130  as necessary in a direction of insertion point  102  of a patient  101  to spatially position intervention robot  140  within the kinematic space of robot manipulator  130 . To this end, as shown in  FIG. 9A , robot controller  120  is operated to execute a flowchart  180  representative of a robot manipulator control method of the inventions of the present disclosure. 
     Referring to  FIG. 9A , a stage S 182  of flowchart  180  encompasses mapping module  123  of robot controller  120  processing a registered robot location RRL indicative of the spatial positioning of the remote-center-of-motion RCM at insertion point  102  within cone-beam CT image as registered to the robot apparatus. The processing involves a computation of joint position settings JPS in accordance with a mapping  124  by mapping module  123  of the registered robot location RRL within kinematic space  150  of robot manipulator  130 , and a communication of joint position settings JPS to spatial positioning module  126 . 
     A stage S 184  of flowchart  180  encompasses spatial positioning module  126  executing joint position commands JPC to thereby facilitate a manual actuation of a translational and/or a rotational motion as needed of robot manipulator  150  as affixed to reference plane  103 . Examples of joint position commands JPC include, but are not limited to, textual display  70  and/or graphical images  73  as previously described herein. 
     Referring to back to  FIG. 8 , upon completion of stage S 176 , a stage S 178  of flowchart  170  encompasses a signal actuation by robot manipulator  130  of a pitch motion and/or a yaw motion of intervention robot  140  as necessary about insertion point  102  of a patient  101  to spatially orient end-effector  145  ( FIG. 6 ) within the kinematic space of intervention robot  140  ( FIG. 6 ). To this end, as shown in  FIG. 9B , robot controller  120  is operated to execute a flowchart  190  representative of an intervention robot control method of the inventions of the present disclosure. 
     Referring to  FIG. 9B , a stage S 192  of flowchart  190  encompasses mapping module  123  of robot controller  120  processing a registered robot orientation RRO indicative of the spatial orienting of the remote-center-of-motion RCM about insertion point  102  within cone-beam CT image as registered to the robot apparatus. The processing involves a generation of spatial orienting signal SOS in accordance with a mapping  125  by mapping module  123  of the registered robot orientation RRO within kinematic space  150  of intervention robot  140 , and a communication of spatial orienting signal SOS to spatial orientating module  127 . 
     A stage S 194  of flowchart  190  encompasses spatial orientating module  127  transmitting intervention drive signal IDS to the actuator(s) of intervention robot  140  to thereby pitch and/to yaw intervention robot  140  as needed. 
     Flowchart  170  is terminated upon completion of stage S 194 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-9 , those having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate numerous benefits of the present disclosure including, but not limited to, a decoupled kinematics providing independent control of an insertion point and an insertion angle offering many advantages including accuracy and intuitiveness of control of a robotic apparatus, and image guidance allowing operator selection of the insertion point and the insertion angle from diagnostic images further offering accuracy and intuitiveness of control of a robotic apparatus. 
     Furthermore, as one having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate in view of the teachings provided herein, features, elements, components, etc. described in the present disclosure/specification and/or depicted in the Figures may be implemented in various combinations of electronic components/circuitry, hardware, executable software and executable firmware and provide functions which may be combined in a single element or multiple elements. For example, the functions of the various features, elements, components, etc. shown/illustrated/depicted in the Figures can be provided through the use of dedicated hardware as well as hardware capable of executing software in association with appropriate software. When provided by a processor, the functions can be provided by a single dedicated processor, by a single shared processor, or by a plurality of individual processors, some of which can be shared and/or multiplexed. Moreover, explicit use of the term “processor” should not be construed to refer exclusively to hardware capable of executing software, and can implicitly include, without limitation, digital signal processor (“DSP”) hardware, memory (e.g., read only memory (“ROM”) for storing software, random access memory (“RAM”), non-volatile storage, etc.) and virtually any means and/or machine (including hardware, software, firmware, circuitry, combinations thereof, etc.) which is capable of (and/or configurable) to perform and/or control a process. 
     Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of the invention, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass both structural and functional equivalents thereof. Additionally, it is intended that such equivalents include both currently known equivalents as well as equivalents developed in the future (e.g., any elements developed that can perform the same or substantially similar function, regardless of structure). Thus, for example, it will be appreciated by one having ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings provided herein that any block diagrams presented herein can represent conceptual views of illustrative system components and/or circuitry embodying the principles of the invention. Similarly, one having ordinary skill in the art should appreciate in view of the teachings provided herein that any flow charts, flow diagrams and the like can represent various processes which can be substantially represented in computer readable storage media and so executed by a computer, processor or other device with processing capabilities, whether or not such computer or processor is explicitly shown. 
     Furthermore, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure can take the form of a computer program product or application module accessible from a computer-usable and/or computer-readable storage medium providing program code and/or instructions for use by or in connection with, e.g., a computer or any instruction execution system. In accordance with the present disclosure, a computer-usable or computer readable storage medium can be any apparatus that can, e.g., include, store, communicate, propagate or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus or device. Such exemplary medium can be, e.g., an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared or semiconductor system (or apparatus or device) or a propagation medium. Examples of a computer-readable medium include, e.g., a semiconductor or solid state memory, magnetic tape, a removable computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), flash (drive), a rigid magnetic disk and an optical disk. Current examples of optical disks include compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM), compact disk read/write (CD-R/W) and DVD. Further, it should be understood that any new computer-readable medium which may hereafter be developed should also be considered as computer-readable medium as may be used or referred to in accordance with exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure and disclosure. 
     Having described preferred and exemplary embodiments of novel and inventive image guidance of robotic systems, (which embodiments are intended to be illustrative and not limiting), it is noted that modifications and variations can be made by persons having ordinary skill in the art in light of the teachings provided herein, including the  FIGS. 1-9 . It is therefore to be understood that changes can be made in/to the preferred and exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure which are within the scope of the embodiments disclosed herein. 
     Moreover, it is contemplated that corresponding and/or related systems incorporating and/or implementing the device or such as may be used/implemented in a device in accordance with the present disclosure are also contemplated and considered to be within the scope of the present disclosure. Further, corresponding and/or related method for manufacturing and/or using a device and/or system in accordance with the present disclosure are also contemplated and considered to be within the scope of the present disclosure.