Patent Publication Number: US-2023139425-A1

Title: Systems and methods for optimizing configurations of a computer-assisted surgical system for reachability of target objects

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/993,568, filed Mar. 23, 2020, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND INFORMATION 
     Various technologies including computing technologies, robotic technologies, medical technologies, and extended reality technologies (e.g., augmented reality technologies, virtual reality technologies, etc.) have made it possible for users such as surgeons to perform, and be trained to perform, various types of medical operations and procedures. For example, users may perform and be trained to perform minimally-invasive medical procedures such as computer-assisted surgical procedures in clinical settings (e.g., procedures on bodies of live human or animal patients), in non-clinical settings (e.g., procedures on bodies of human or animal cadavers, bodies of tissue removed from human or animal anatomies, etc.), in training settings (e.g., procedures on bodies of physical anatomical training models, bodies of virtual anatomy models in extended reality environments, etc.), and so forth. 
     During a procedure in any such setting, a user may view imagery of a surgical space associated with a body (e.g., an area internal to the body) as the user directs instruments of a computer-assisted surgical system to perform the procedure with respect to the body at the surgical space. The imagery may be provided by an imaging device included within or attached to the computer-assisted surgical system, such as an endoscope. As various procedures are performed in this way, configurations of the computer-assisted surgical system may affect how efficiently and/or effectively the user is able to perform the procedures. 
     SUMMARY 
     The following description presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects of the systems and methods described herein. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all aspects nor delineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present one or more aspects of the systems and methods described herein as a prelude to the detailed description that is presented below. 
     An exemplary system includes a memory storing instructions and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory and configured to execute the instructions to determine a reachability of a target object in a surgical space by a robotic instrument of a computer-assisted surgical system for a first configuration of the computer-assisted surgical system; determine a second configuration of the computer-assisted surgical system that improves the reachability of the target object by the robotic instrument; and provide, to the computer-assisted surgical system, data indicating the second configuration. 
     An exemplary method includes a processor (e.g., a processor of a configuration optimization system) determining a reachability of a target object in a surgical space by a robotic instrument of a computer-assisted surgical system for a first configuration of the computer-assisted surgical system; determining a second configuration of the computer-assisted surgical system that improves the reachability of the target object by the robotic instrument; and providing to the computer-assisted surgical system, data indicating the second configuration. 
     An exemplary computer-readable medium includes instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to determine a reachability of a target object in a surgical space by a robotic instrument of a computer-assisted surgical system for a first configuration of the computer-assisted surgical system; determine a second configuration of the computer-assisted surgical system that improves the reachability of the target object by the robotic instrument; and provide, to the computer-assisted surgical system, data indicating the second configuration. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings illustrate various embodiments and are a part of the specification. The illustrated embodiments are merely examples and do not limit the scope of the disclosure. Throughout the drawings, identical or similar reference numbers designate identical or similar elements. 
         FIG.  1    illustrates an exemplary configuration optimization system according to principles described herein. 
         FIG.  2    illustrates a display device displaying imagery from exemplary configurations according to principles described herein. 
         FIG.  3    illustrates an exemplary portion of a computer-assisted surgical system according to principles described herein. 
         FIG.  4    illustrates exemplary workspaces for optimizing configurations according to principles described herein. 
         FIG.  5    illustrates an exemplary viewpoint of a configuration from which an imaging device captures imagery according to principles described herein. 
         FIG.  6 A  illustrates an imaging device of a computer-assisted surgical system capturing imagery of an anatomical object during a procedure from exemplary viewpoints of different configurations of the computer-assisted surgical system according to principles described herein. 
         FIG.  6 B  illustrates an exemplary display device on which the anatomical object in  FIG.  6 A  is displayed in the different configurations of the computer-assisted surgical system according to principles described herein. 
         FIG.  6 C  illustrates exemplary wrist postures used by the user for the different configurations of the computer-assisted surgical system in  FIGS.  6 A and  6 B  according to principles described herein. 
         FIG.  7    illustrates exemplary configurations of a computer-assisted surgical system according to principles described herein. 
         FIG.  8    illustrates an exemplary method for optimizing configurations of a computer-assisted surgical system for reachability of target objects according to principles described herein. 
         FIG.  9    illustrates an exemplary computer-assisted surgical system according to principles described herein. 
         FIG.  10    illustrates an exemplary computing device according to principles described herein. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Systems and methods for optimizing configurations of a computer-assisted surgical system for reachability of target objects are described herein. During a computer-assisted surgical procedure, a user (e.g., a surgeon) may use (e.g., teleoperate) surgical instruments to interact with various target objects. Such target objects may include any suitable objects in a surgical space, such as anatomical objects, robotic instruments, non-robotic instruments, etc. To interact with target objects using surgical instruments, the surgical instruments must reach the target objects. Moving surgical instruments to the target object may require multiple steps, such as enabling a clutch mode of the computer-assisted surgical system to reposition master controls of the computer-assisted surgical system if the target object is initially out of reach. 
     A configuration optimization system may determine configurations in which reachability of target objects is determined and optimized based on various parameters as described herein. Reachability may be defined as the effectiveness and/or efficiency with which an element of a computer-assisted surgical system (for example, and instrument, a manipulator, a setup structure, or an input device) can be moved to a target destination(s). The target destination to which the element of the computer-assisted surgical system is to be moved may be a target object, a target location, a target configuration, or any other desired goal. Reachability therefore may be characterized by any suitable parameters, such as distance (e.g., a distance of travel from point to point), deviation from desired orientation (e.g., a difference between a current and desired orientation of an instrument, end effector, robotic linkage, etc.), efficiency (e.g., a total amount of motion required to arrive at the target destination, an ergonomic efficiency of the manipulation of a user control to arrive at the target destination, an ergonomic efficiency of a user to manipulate a user control to cause movement of a point to another point, a measure of the different types of motion and/or inputs necessary to arrive at the target destination etc.), or other measures as described herein, both independently or in any combination. The determined configurations may include configurations from which target objects are more reachable compared to other configurations (e.g., current configurations). Configurations that provide improved reachability compared to other configurations may be referred to as optimal configurations for reachability of target objects. The configuration optimization system may further provide data indicating one or more proposed configurations, such as suggesting alternative configurations to the user and/or automatically implementing improved or optimized configurations to facilitate efficient and/or effective interaction with target objects. 
     Systems and methods described herein may advantageously increase efficiency and/or effectiveness of surgical instruments reaching target objects in a surgical space. In certain examples, systems and methods may provide guidance for an interaction of a surgical instrument with a target object during a medical procedure. Such guidance may facilitate automatic implementations of configurations in which reachability of the target object is optimized. Moreover, systems and methods described herein may minimize an amount of time required to reach target objects and/or determine configurations in which reachability of target objects is optimized, which may be beneficial to a patient and/or to a surgical team involved in interacting with target objects. These and other advantages and benefits of systems and methods described herein will be made apparent herein. 
     Various embodiments will now be described in more detail with reference to the figures. The disclosed systems and methods may provide one or more of the benefits mentioned above and/or various additional and/or alternative benefits that will be made apparent herein. 
       FIG.  1    illustrates an exemplary configuration optimization system  100  (“system  100 ”) for optimizing configurations of a computer-assisted surgical system for reachability of target objects. System  100  may be included in, implemented by, or connected to one or more components of a computer-assisted surgical system such as an exemplary computer-assisted surgical system that will be described below in relation to  FIG.  9   . For example, system  100  may be implemented by one or more components of a computer-assisted surgical system such as a manipulating system, a user control system, or an auxiliary system. As another example, system  100  may be implemented by a stand-alone computing system communicatively coupled to a computer-assisted surgical system. 
     As shown in  FIG.  1   , system  100  may include, without limitation, a storage facility  102  and a processing facility  104  selectively and communicatively coupled to one another. Facilities  102  and  104  may each include or be implemented by one or more physical computing devices including hardware and/or software components such as processors, memories, storage drives, communication interfaces, instructions stored in memory for execution by the processors, and so forth. Although facilities  102  and  104  are shown to be separate facilities in  FIG.  1   , facilities  102  and  104  may be combined into fewer facilities, such as into a single facility, or divided into more facilities as may serve a particular implementation. In some examples, each of facilities  102  and  104  may be distributed between multiple devices and/or multiple locations as may serve a particular implementation. 
     Storage facility  102  may maintain (e.g., store) executable data used by processing facility  104  to perform any of the functionality described herein. For example, storage facility  102  may store instructions  106  that may be executed by processing facility  104  to perform one or more of the operations described herein. Instructions  106  may be implemented by any suitable application, software, code, and/or other executable data instance. Storage facility  102  may also maintain any data received, generated, managed, used, and/or transmitted by processing facility  104 . 
     Processing facility  104  may be configured to perform (e.g., execute instructions  106  stored in storage facility  102  to perform) various operations associated with optimizing configurations of a computer-assisted surgical system for reachability of target objects. For example, processing facility  104  may be configured to determine a reachability of a target object in a surgical space by a robotic instrument of the computer-assisted surgical system for a first configuration of the computer-assisted surgical system. Processing facility  104  may further determine (e.g., based on the determination of the reachability of the target object for the first configuration of the computer-assisted surgical system) a second configuration of the computer-assisted surgical system that improves the reachability of the target object by the robotic instrument (e.g., the target object is more reachable in the second configuration than in the first configuration). Processing facility  104  may further provide, to the computer-assisted surgical system, data indicating the second configuration. 
     These and other operations that may be performed by system  100  (e.g., by processing facility  104  of system  100 ) are described herein. In the description that follows, any references to functions performed by system  100  may be understood to be performed by processing facility  104  based on instructions  106  stored in storage facility  102 . 
       FIG.  2    illustrates exemplary imagery  200  (e.g., a first image  200 - 1  and a second image  200 - 2 ) of a surgical procedure as displayed by a display device  202  (e.g., a display device of a computer-assisted surgical system). Imagery  200  depicts a surgical space including an anatomical object  204 , a surgical instrument  206 , and a non-robotic instrument  208 . Imagery  200  may be provided by an imaging device (e.g., an imaging device of the computer-assisted surgical system) capturing imagery from a particular viewpoint. For example, image  200 - 1  shows the surgical space from a first viewpoint while image  200 - 2  shows the surgical space from a second viewpoint that is different from the first viewpoint. A viewpoint (such as the first and second viewpoints of imagery  200 ) may refer to a combination of various aspects of position, orientation, configuration, resolution, and the like that together combine to define what imagery the imaging device captures at a particular moment in time. Additional aspects of viewpoints are described further herein. As shown by coordinate axes on each of image  200 - 1  and image  200 - 2  (which coordinate axes may or may not actually be shown on display device  202 ), the viewpoint of image  200 - 2  is a rotation about a z-axis of the viewpoint of image  200 - 1 . 
     The surgical space includes anatomical object  204 , which may be any anatomical portion of a body of a patient on whom the surgical procedure is being performed. For example, anatomical object  204  may include an internal organ or portions of internal organs, etc. 
     Surgical instrument  206  may be implemented by any suitable therapeutic instrument (e.g., a tool having tissue-interaction functions), imaging device (e.g., an endoscope), diagnostic instrument, or the like that may be used for a computer-assisted surgical procedure on the patient (e.g., by being at least partially inserted into the patient and manipulated to perform a computer-assisted surgical procedure on the patient). Surgical instrument  206  may also be configured to interact with (e.g., grasp, manipulate, move, image, etc.) target objects such as anatomy (e.g., anatomical object  204 ) and/or non-robotic instruments (e.g., non-robotic instrument  208 ) in a surgical space. In some examples, surgical instrument  206  may include force-sensing and/or other sensing capabilities. Surgical instrument  206  may be coupled to a manipulator arm of the computer-assisted surgical system and configured to be manipulated by the manipulator arm as controlled (e.g., teleoperated) by a user (e.g., a surgeon) of the computer-assisted surgical system using a set of master controls of the computer-assisted surgical system. 
     Non-robotic instrument  208  may be any suitable instrument that is not coupled to a manipulator arm of the computer-assisted surgical system. As shown in imagery  200 , an example non-robotic instrument  208  is a sensor (e.g., an ultrasound probe). Other example non-robotic instruments may include any other suitable sensors (e.g., drop-in optical coherence tomography (OCT) sensors, drop-in rapid evaporative ionization mass spectrometry (REIMS) devices, etc.), imaging devices, affixation devices or instruments (e.g., sutures, staples, anchors, suturing devices, etc.), etc. 
     Non-robotic instrument  208  may be an example of a target object for interaction by the computer-assisted surgical system. Other target objects may include any suitable object found in a surgical space that can be interacted with by surgical instrument  206 . Such suitable objects may include anatomical objects, other robotic instruments (e.g., robotic instruments coupled to a system different from the computer-assisted surgical system), other non-robotic instruments, etc. 
     During a surgical procedure being performed with a computer-assisted surgical system (e.g., performed by a user using the computer-assisted surgical system), a configuration optimization system (e.g., system  100 ) may identify a target object in a surgical space. For example, system  100  may identify that non-robotic instrument  208  is a target object that the user may want to interact with using surgical instrument  206 . System  100  may identify the target object in any suitable manner. For instance, system  100  may use image processing and object recognition algorithms to determine that non-robotic instrument  208  is a non-robotic instrument that is a potential target object. System  100  may be configured to consider any and/or particular non-robotic instruments or types of instruments as a potential target object. Additionally or alternatively, system  100  may receive an indication of a target object from the user. 
     For the user to use surgical instrument  206  to interact with non-robotic instrument  208 , surgical instrument  206  must reach non-robotic instrument  208 . To facilitate surgical instrument  206  reaching non-robotic instrument  208  in an efficient and/or effective manner, system  100  may determine a reachability of non-robotic instrument  208  by surgical instrument  206  for a first configuration of the computer-assisted surgical system such as a current configuration of the computer-assisted surgical system. The configuration may include any suitable information and/or parameters relating to a reachability of non-robotic instrument  208  by surgical instrument  206 . For example, a configuration may include a pose (e.g., a position and/or an orientation) of non-robotic instrument  208 , a pose of surgical instrument  206 , a pose of a set of master controls of the computer-assisted surgical system, a viewpoint provided by the imaging device of the computer-assisted surgical system, a target interaction with non-robotic instrument  208 , etc. 
     System  100  may determine a reachability of non-robotic instrument  208  based on the parameters of the current configuration. For instance, image  200 - 1  shows a first configuration of the computer-assisted surgical system for which system  100  may determine the reachability of non-robotic instrument  208 . The reachability may depend on a current position of non-robotic instrument  208  relative to a current position of surgical instrument  206  (e.g., a distance between the current positions of non-robotic instrument  208  and surgical instrument  206 ). The reachability may further depend on a current orientation of non-robotic instrument  208  relative to a current orientation of surgical instrument  206 . For example, orientation of non-robotic instrument  208  may affect a distance surgical instrument  206  is to travel to be able to interact with non-robotic instrument  208 . The reachability may further depend on a target interaction with non-robotic instrument  208 . For example, the target interaction may affect which part of non-robotic instrument  208  is to be reached, which may also affect the distance to be traveled by surgical instrument  206 . The reachability may further depend on a pose of a master control that is manipulated by a user to control movement of surgical instrument  206 . For example, orientation of surgical instrument  206  may correspond to an orientation of the set of master controls, which may in turn affect a pose (e.g., pose  210 - 1  or pose  210 - 2 ) of a hand and wrist of a user (e.g., a surgeon). In this example, pose  210 - 1  may be a relatively difficult pose from which the user is to maneuver the master controls in a direction toward non-robotic instrument  208 . Additionally, a position of the master controls may determine how far the master controls may be configured to move in the direction toward non-robotic instrument  208 . The reachability may further depend on a viewpoint provided by an imaging device of the computer-assisted surgical system. For example, a visibility of the target object may affect the reachability of the target object. The examples of parameters described above are illustrative. Any suitable additional or alternative parameters may be used by system  100  to determine a reachability of a target object. Examples of determining reachability of a target object are discussed herein. 
     System  100  may determine (e.g., based on the determined reachability of non-robotic instrument  208  by surgical instrument  206  in the current configuration) a second configuration such as a suggested configuration that improves the reachability of non-robotic instrument  208  by surgical instrument  206  (e.g., the non-robotic instrument  208  may be more reachable in the suggested configuration than in the current configuration). For example, image  200 - 2  shows a second configuration of the computer-assisted surgical system in which non-robotic instrument  208  is more reachable than in the first configuration shown in image  200 - 1 . Non-robotic instrument  208  may be more reachable in the second configuration at least in part because a pose of surgical instrument  206  has changed to allow the user to change the hand and wrist of the user to pose  210 - 2 . Pose  210 - 2  may be an easier pose from which to move the master controls in a direction to manipulate surgical instrument  206  toward non-robotic instrument  208  than pose  210 - 1 , given kinematics of a human hand, wrist, and/or arm. Thus, though the distance between surgical instrument  206  and non-robotic instrument  208  may not have changed between the first configuration and the second configuration, a change in orientation of surgical instrument  206  may result in a configuration in which non-robotic instrument  208  is more reachable. Further, such a change in orientation may correspond to a change in viewpoint to allow the user&#39;s hand to remain in a corresponding orientation with surgical instrument  206 . 
     System  100  may further provide data indicating the second configuration, such as by displaying the second configuration on display device  202  (as shown in image  200 - 2 ). Such a display may depict an actual corresponding change in the configuration of the computer-assisted surgical system. Additionally or alternatively, image  200 - 2  may be displayed in a manner that indicates a suggestion of a change of the first configuration (e.g., using a different opacity, a different size, with any suitable indicator indicating a different display mode, etc.) that is to be accepted by the user before the actual change in the configuration is implemented. Additionally or alternatively, the data may include other suggestions or guidance (e.g., visual, auditory, haptic, etc.) to implement the second configuration from the first configuration. Additionally or alternatively, the data may include commands that direct the computer-assisted surgical system to automatically change the configuration of the computer-assisted surgical system, such as upon an indication received from the user to implement a configuration (e.g., a user acceptance of suggested new configuration) in which reachability of non-robotic instrument  208  is optimized. 
       FIG.  3    shows a portion (e.g., a user control system  300 ) of an exemplary computer-assisted surgical system. A user  302  is shown manipulating a set of master controls  304  (e.g., a left master control  304 - 1  and a right master control  304 - 2 ) and viewing, through a viewer  306 , imagery provided by an imaging system (e.g., an imaging device of the computer-assisted surgical system). An example implementation of the computer-assisted surgical system is further described in  FIG.  9   . 
     A reachability of a target object may be based on a dexterity (e.g., kinematic dexterity and/or dynamic dexterity) of master controls  304  (e.g., master control  304 - 1 ). The dexterity may be based on limits of master control  304 - 1  imposed by the computer-assisted surgical system. Such limits may be electromechanical (e.g., based on physical construction of the computer-assisted surgical system, location of surrounding equipment, size of room, location of users, etc.), based on the surgical space, based on anatomical objects, etc. A set of coordinate axes  308  represents the dexterity of master control  304 - 1  from a given pose. 
     The reachability may be further based on a dexterity of user  302 . The dexterity may be based on biomechanical limits of user  302  to move a hand  310  of user  302  to particular poses. The dexterity may be determined based on a model of movement of arms of user  302  (e.g., modeling joints from shoulder to elbow to wrist, etc.). Additionally or alternatively, dexterity may be determined using a camera capturing images of user  302  along with image processing algorithms and/or machine learning algorithms to track movement of user  302 , a current position of user  302 , a set of possible poses of user  302 , a set of preferred poses of user  302 , a set of ergonomically advantageous poses of user  302 , etc. A set of coordinate axes  312  represents the dexterity of user  302  from a given pose. 
     Based at least in part on the dexterity of master controls  304  and the dexterity of user  302 , system  100  may determine reachability of a target object. For example,  FIG.  4    shows an exemplary model  400  that depicts a workspace  402  of a set of master controls (e.g., master control  304 - 1 ) and a workspace  404  of a user (e.g., user  302 ). 
     In some examples, workspace  402  may represent an area defining some or all points in which master control  304 - 1  is configured to be able to move (e.g., within the limits imposed by computer-assisted surgical system  300 ). Workspace  404  may represent an area defining some or all points in which user  302  is able to maneuver master control  304 - 1 . A reachability of a target object may depend on whether and/or where the target object is located within a joint workspace  406  in which workspace  402  and workspace  404  overlap, as joint workspace  406  may represent the points in space for which master control  304 - 1  is configured to move and user  302  is able to maneuver master control  304 - 1 . Thus, a configuration that results in the target object being placed more centrally in joint workspace  406  may be considered a configuration in which the target object is more reachable compared to another configuration. 
     Additionally or alternatively, workspace  402  may represent an area defining points in which master control  304 - 1  is configured to move based on a current pose of master control  304 - 1 . Likewise, workspace  404  may represent an area defining points in which user  302  is able to maneuver master control  304 - 1  based on a current pose of master control  304 - 1  (which may correspond to a current pose of a wrist and hand of user  302 ). Thus, workspace  402  and/or workspace  404  may dynamically change as master control  304 - 1  is moved. Consequently, joint workspace  406  may also change dynamically in accordance with a change to workspace  402  and/or workspace  404 . In such an example, a configuration may be optimized for one (or more) of workspace  402 ,  404 , or  406  to determine a configuration in which reachability of a target object is optimized. For instance, system  100  may define a cost function that would determine a pose of master control  304 - 1  that optimizes for one or more dynamic properties of workspace  402  and/or master control  304 - 1 . Such dynamic properties may include any suitable properties such as an area of workspace  402 , a center of gravity of master control  304 - 1 , an economy of motion of master control  304 - 1 , etc. Additionally or alternatively, the cost function may optimize for one or more dynamic properties of workspace  404  and/or user  302 . Such dynamic properties may include any suitable properties such as an area of workspace  404 , an ergonomic optimization for user  302 , an economy of motion for user  302 , etc. Additionally or alternatively, the cost function may optimize for dynamic properties of both workspace  402  and  404  (e.g., one or more dynamic properties of joint workspace  406 , master control  304 - 1 , and/or user  302 ). Thus, placing master control  304 - 1  in an optimal pose defined by such a cost function may result in a configuration in which reachability of a target object is optimized. 
     Furthermore, system  100  may optimize configurations for reachability for more than one target object. For example, user  302  may desire to alternate a series of interactions with two target objects, going back and forth. System  100  may optimize for a configuration taking into consideration reachability of both (or any number of) target objects. 
     As described, a system  100  may optimize a configuration by changing a pose of a set of master controls (e.g., master controls  304 ). System  100  may place master control  304 - 1  (and/or master controls  304 ) in a different pose (e.g., an optimal pose for reachability of the target object) by directing the computer-assisted surgical system to operate in a clutch mode. The clutch mode may decouple master controls  304  from surgical instruments (e.g., surgical instrument  206 ) so that master controls  304  may be repositioned without a corresponding movement of surgical instruments. In this way, in some examples, system  100  may provide data indicating a proposed configuration by automatically changing a pose of master controls  304  to a more optimal pose that results in an optimized reachability of a target object by the surgical instrument. For instance, if an arm of user  302  were fully extended in a first pose of master control  304 - 1  and a target object were located farther in a same direction as the extension of the arm, user  302  may be unable to reach the target object. However, if system  100  were to move master control  304 - 1  in clutch mode so that the arm of user  302  is no longer fully extended while keeping the relative pose of a corresponding surgical instrument to the target object unchanged, user  302  could then easily extended the arm in the same direction to reach the target object. In this instance, a first configuration may include a first pose of master control  304 - 1  and a first pose of the surgical instrument. The second configuration may include a second pose of master control  304 - 1  that then corresponds to the first pose of the surgical instrument, as master control  304 - 1  has moved in clutch mode while the surgical instrument has not. 
     As mentioned previously, in some instances, a change in a pose of master control  304 - 1  may result in a change in a viewpoint provided by the computer-assisted surgical system and vice versa. Such corresponding changes may allow user  302  to keep an orientation of a hand and/or wrist of user  302  consistent with an orientation of a corresponding surgical instrument that user  302  sees on a display device. 
     For example,  FIG.  5    shows an exemplary viewpoint  500  from which an imaging device  502  (e.g., an imaging device of computer-assisted surgical system  300 ) captures imagery of an anatomical object (e.g., anatomical object  204 ).  FIG.  5    depicts viewpoint  500  as an arrow stretching along the shaft of imaging device  502  to suggest that, as alterations are made to the position, orientation, configuration, resolution, etc. of imaging device  502 , viewpoint  500  will be adjusted accordingly. 
     Viewpoint  500  may be defined by various aspects of position, orientation, configuration, resolution, and so forth of imaging device  502 . Each of these aspects will be referred to herein as different aspects of an orientation or as different types of orientations  504  (e.g., orientations  504 - 1  through  504 - 5 ) of viewpoint  500 . 
     As shown, a zoom orientation  504 - 1  of viewpoint  500  relates to an apparent position of viewpoint  500  along the longitudinal axis of the shaft of imaging device  502 . Thus, for example, an adjustment in zoom orientation  504 - 1  may result in imagery that looks larger (closer) or smaller (farther away) as compared to an initial zoom orientation  504 - 1  that has not been adjusted. In certain implementations, adjustments to zoom orientation  504 - 1  may be made by physically moving or sliding imaging device  502  closer to a portion of anatomical object  204  that is being captured or farther from the portion of anatomical object  204  that is being captured. Such zoom adjustments may be referred to herein as optical zoom adjustments. In other implementations, adjustments may be made without physically moving or adjusting the physical orientation of imaging device  502 . For example, zoom adjustments may be made optically by internally changing a lens, lens configuration, or other optical aspect of imaging device  502 , or by applying a digital zoom manipulation to the image data captured by imaging device  502 . 
     A horizon orientation  504 - 2  of viewpoint  500  relates to a rotation of imaging device  502  along the longitudinal axis of the shaft of imaging device  502  (i.e., a z-axis according to a coordinate system illustrated in  FIG.  5   ). Thus, for example, an adjustment of 180° in horizon orientation  504 - 1  would result in imagery that is upside down as compared to a horizon orientation of 0°. In certain implementations, adjustments to horizon orientation  504 - 1  may be made by physically rotating imaging device  502 , while in other implementations, such adjustments may be made without physically moving or adjusting the physical orientation of imaging device  502 . For example, horizon adjustments may be made by digitally manipulating or processing the image data captured by imaging device  502 . 
     A planar orientation  504 - 3  of viewpoint  500  relates to a position of imaging device with respect to a plane of anatomical object  204  that is being captured. As such, planar orientation  504 - 3  may be adjusted by panning imaging device  502  left, right, up, or down orthogonally to a longitudinal axis (i.e., parallel to an x-y plane according to the coordinate system shown in  FIG.  5   ). When planar orientation  504 - 3  is adjusted, the imagery of the body scrolls so that a different part of the body is depicted by the image data after the adjustment to planar orientation  504 - 3  is made than before. 
     As mentioned above, certain implementations of imaging device  502  may be jointed, flexible, or may otherwise have an ability to articulate to capture imagery in directions away from the longitudinal axis of imaging device  502 . Additionally, even if a particular implementation of imaging device  502  is rigid and straight, settings for angled views (e.g., 30° angled views up or down, etc.) may be available to similarly allow imaging device  502  to capture imagery in directions other than straight ahead. Accordingly, for any of these implementations of imaging device  502 , a yaw orientation  504 - 4  that affects a heading of imaging device  502  along a normal axis (i.e., a y-axis of the coordinate system shown), as well as a pitch orientation  504 - 5  that affects the tilt of the imaging device along a transverse axis (i.e., a x-axis of the coordinate system shown) may also be adjustable. 
     While various orientations  504  have been explicitly described, it will be understood that various other aspects of how imaging device  502  captures imagery of anatomical object  204  may similarly be included as adjustable aspects of the orientation of imaging device  502  in certain implementations. 
     Based on viewpoint  500 , imaging device  502  is shown to capture a particular field of view  506  of anatomical object  204 . It will be understood that field of view  506  may change in various ways (e.g., move side to side, get larger or smaller, etc.) as various orientations  504  of viewpoint  500  of imaging device  502  are adjusted. 
       FIG.  6 A  shows an exemplary procedure  600  during which a computer-assisted surgical system performs a plurality of operations with respect to an anatomical object (e.g., anatomical object  204 ), while an imaging device (e.g., imaging device  502 , which may be included within the computer-assisted surgical system) captures imagery of anatomical object  204  from different exemplary viewpoints  500  (e.g., viewpoints  500 - 1  and  500 - 2 ). More specifically,  FIG.  6 A  depicts, from a side perspective showing the position of imaging device  502 , a specific portion of anatomical object  204  where an incision has been made, and a relative position of a distal end of imaging device  502  with respect to the incision. As shown, various surgical instruments  602 ,  604 , and  606  are being used to perform one or more operations with respect to anatomical object  204  in the surgical space. For example, surgical instruments  602  and  604  may be used primarily to manipulate tissue and/or tools in furtherance of the operations being performed, while surgical instrument  606  may be used to hold certain portions of tissue out of the way or to otherwise facilitate the performance of the operations. 
     In  FIG.  6 A , the distal end of imaging device  502  is depicted in a first configuration (depicted using solid lines) and in a second configuration (depicted using dotted lines). As shown, imaging device  502  has a first viewpoint  500 - 1  in the first configuration and a second viewpoint  500 - 2  in the second configuration. A small arrow depicted at the back of each of viewpoints  500 - 1  and  500 - 2  indicates a horizon orientation (i.e., how imaging device  502  is rotated along the longitudinal axis) for that viewpoint with respect to a three-dimensional (“3D”) coordinate system shown to have X, Y, and Z dimensions. More particularly, the horizon orientation of viewpoint  500 - 1  is shown to have the positive X dimension facing up, while the horizon orientation of viewpoint  500 - 2  is shown to have the positive Y dimension facing up. Along with viewpoints  500 - 1  and  500 - 2  differing in their respective horizon orientations, the zoom orientation from viewpoint  500 - 1  to  500 - 2  is also shown to be adjusted because viewpoint  500 - 2  is nearer to (i.e., optically zoomed in on) the tissue of anatomical object  204 . 
       FIG.  6 B  illustrates an exemplary display device  612  upon which imagery  610  (e.g., image  610 - 1  and image  610 - 2 ) captured from viewpoints  500 - 1  and  500 - 2  during procedure  600  is displayed. Specifically, image  610 - 1  captured by imaging device  502  from viewpoint  500 - 1  is displayed on a display device  612  in the first configuration, while image  610 - 2  captured by imaging device  502  from viewpoint  500 - 2  is displayed on display device  612  in the second configuration when the viewpoint of imaging device  502  has been adjusted (i.e., zoomed in and rotated 90 degrees). To help clarify what is depicted within images  610 - 1  and  610 - 2  and how these are different from one another, the same coordinate system included in  FIG.  6 A  is also shown alongside each of images  610 - 1  and  610 - 2  in  FIG.  6 B . In both cases, the Z-dimension is illustrated by a dot notation to indicate that the z-axis is coming straight out of the imaging device screen (i.e., parallel with the longitudinal axis of imaging device  502  in this example). However, while the X-dimension is illustrated as facing up in image  610 - 1 , the 90° adjustment to the horizon orientation from viewpoint  500 - 1  to viewpoint  500 - 2  is shown to result in the Y-dimension facing up in image  610 - 2 . As mentioned above, switching from a first viewpoint to a second viewpoint may result in a second configuration including a more natural, comfortable, and efficient wrist posture in which target object  608  is more reachable than a first configuration. 
     To illustrate,  FIG.  6 C  shows exemplary wrist postures  614 - 1  and  614 - 2  used by a user (e.g., user  302 ) to perform a procedure while viewing imagery  610  from viewpoints  500 - 1  and  500 - 2 , respectively. For each of wrist postures  614 - 1  and  614 - 2 , the left and rights wrists are posed to respectively mimic poses of surgical instruments  602  and  604 . Once computer-assisted surgical system  300  is in a normal operating mode (e.g., as opposed to a clutch operating mode), surgical instrument  602  may thus be configured to follow and be directed by the left hand and wrist of the user, while surgical instrument  604  may be configured to follow and be directed by the right hand and wrist of the user (e.g., via a set of master controls of computer-assisted surgical system  300 ). However, as illustrated by  FIG.  6 C , the wrist posture required to direct the instruments as they are posed in image  610 - 1  is significantly different from the wrist posture required to direct the instruments as posed in image  610 - 2 . 
     Specifically, as shown, wrist posture  614 - 1 , which is associated with the first configuration, including viewpoint  500 - 1  and with surgical instruments  602  and  604  as posed in image  610 - 1 , may limit reachability in certain directions (such as toward target object  608 ). Accordingly, system  100  may determine the second configuration, including viewpoint  500 - 2  and with surgical instruments  602  and  604  as posed in image  610 - 2 , is a configuration in which target object  608  is more reachable than the first configuration. 
     While  FIGS.  6 A- 6 C  illustrate a viewpoint adjustment that includes a change to both a horizon orientation and a zoom orientation, it will be understood that system  100  may define the second viewpoint in any suitable manner to optimize reachability of target object  608 . 
     As another example,  FIG.  7    illustrates display device  612  displaying image  700 - 1  from a first viewpoint of a first configuration and, subsequently, displaying image  700 - 2  from a second viewpoint of a second configuration that has a different zoom orientation than the first viewpoint. In this example, system  100  may identify that a target object (e.g., target object  608 ) is more reachable in the second configuration than the first configuration because it is more visible in the second viewpoint than in the first viewpoint. Additionally, the second viewpoint may also correspond to a different scale of movement of a surgical instrument (e.g., surgical instrument  602 ) with respect to target object  608 . Whether the scale of movement (and a corresponding distance for movement of a set of master controls) changes, an increased visibility of target object  608  and/or a path to target object  608  may be considered a configuration in which reachability of target object  608  is optimized. In imagery  700 , system  100  may determine that the first viewpoint is too closely zoomed in to provide visibility of target object  608  and, as a result, may determine that a more optimal viewpoint would have a zoom orientation that is zoomed out to provide more visible area. While imagery  700  shows different zoom levels, any suitable changes in viewpoint (e.g., any of the orientations described) may result in configurations with optimized reachability of target object  608 . 
       FIG.  8    illustrates an exemplary method  800  for optimizing configurations of a computer-assisted surgical system for reachability of target objects. While  FIG.  8    illustrates exemplary operations according to one embodiment, other embodiments may omit, add to, reorder, combine, and/or modify any of the operations shown in  FIG.  8   . One or more of the operations shown in in  FIG.  8    may be performed by a configuration optimization system such as system  100 , any components included therein, and/or any implementation thereof. 
     In operation  802 , a configuration optimization system may identify a target object in a surgical space. Operation  802  may be performed in any of the ways described herein. 
     In operation  804 , the configuration optimization system may determine a reachability of the target object by a robotic instrument of a computer-assisted surgical system for a first configuration of the computer-assisted surgical system. Operation  804  may be performed in any of the ways described herein. 
     In operation  806 , the configuration optimization system may determine (e.g., based on the reachability) a second configuration of the computer-assisted surgical system that improves the reachability of the target object by the robotic instrument. Operation  806  may be performed in any of the ways described herein. 
     In operation  808 , the configuration optimization system may provide, to the computer-assisted surgical system, data indicating the second configuration. Operation  808  may be performed in any of the ways described herein. 
       FIG.  9    shows an exemplary computer-assisted surgical system  900  (“surgical system  900 ”). System  100  may be implemented by surgical system  900 , connected to surgical system  900 , and/or otherwise used in conjunction with surgical system  900 . 
     As shown, surgical system  900  may include a manipulating system  902 , a user control system  904 , and an auxiliary system  906  communicatively coupled one to another. Surgical system  900  may be utilized by a surgical team to perform a computer-assisted surgical procedure on a patient  908 . As shown, the surgical team may include a surgeon  910 - 1 , an assistant  910 - 2 , a nurse  910 - 3 , and an anesthesiologist  910 - 4 , all of whom may be collectively referred to as “surgical team members  910 .” Additional or alternative surgical team members may be present during a surgical session as may serve a particular implementation. 
     While  FIG.  9    illustrates an ongoing minimally invasive surgical procedure, it will be understood that surgical system  900  may similarly be used to perform open surgical procedures or other types of surgical procedures that may similarly benefit from the accuracy and convenience of surgical system  900 . Additionally, it will be understood that the surgical session throughout which surgical system  900  may be employed may not only include an operative phase of a surgical procedure, as is illustrated in  FIG.  9   , but may also include preoperative, postoperative, and/or other suitable phases of the surgical procedure. 
     As shown in  FIG.  9   , manipulating system  902  may include a plurality of manipulator arms  912  (e.g., manipulator arms  912 - 1  through  912 - 4 ) to which a plurality of surgical instruments may be coupled. Each surgical instrument may be implemented by any suitable therapeutic instrument (e.g., a tool having tissue-interaction functions), medical tool, imaging device (e.g., an endoscope), diagnostic instrument, or the like that may be used for a computer-assisted surgical procedure on patient  908  (e.g., by being at least partially inserted into patient  908  and manipulated to perform a computer-assisted surgical procedure on patient  908 ). In some examples, one or more of the surgical instruments may include force-sensing and/or other sensing capabilities. While manipulating system  902  is depicted and described herein as including four manipulator arms  912 , it will be recognized that manipulating system  902  may include only a single manipulator arm  912  or any other number of manipulator arms as may serve a particular implementation. 
     Manipulator arms  912  and/or surgical instruments attached to manipulator arms  912  may include one or more displacement transducers, orientational sensors, and/or positional sensors used to generate raw (i.e., uncorrected) kinematics information. One or more components of surgical system  900  may be configured to use the kinematics information to track (e.g., determine positions of) and/or control the surgical instruments. 
     User control system  904  may be configured to facilitate control by surgeon  910 - 1  of manipulator arms  912  and surgical instruments attached to manipulator arms  912 . For example, surgeon  910 - 1  may interact with user control system  904  to remotely move or manipulate manipulator arms  912  and the surgical instruments. To this end, user control system  904  may provide surgeon  910 - 1  with imagery (e.g., high-definition 3D imagery) of a surgical area associated with patient  908  as captured by an imaging system (e.g., any of the medical imaging systems described herein). In certain examples, user control system  904  may include a stereo viewer having two displays where stereoscopic images of a surgical area associated with patient  908  and generated by a stereoscopic imaging system may be viewed by surgeon  910 - 1 . Surgeon  910 - 1  may utilize the imagery to perform one or more procedures with one or more surgical instruments attached to manipulator arms  912 . 
     To facilitate control of surgical instruments, user control system  904  may include a set of master controls. These master controls may be manipulated by surgeon  910 - 1  to control movement of surgical instruments (e.g., by utilizing robotic and/or teleoperation technology). The master controls may be configured to detect a wide variety of hand, wrist, and finger movements by surgeon  910 - 1 . In this manner, surgeon  910 - 1  may intuitively perform a procedure using one or more surgical instruments. 
     Auxiliary system  906  may include one or more computing devices configured to perform primary processing operations of surgical system  900 . In such configurations, the one or more computing devices included in auxiliary system  906  may control and/or coordinate operations performed by various other components (e.g., manipulating system  902  and user control system  904 ) of surgical system  900 . For example, a computing device included in user control system  904  may transmit instructions to manipulating system  902  by way of the one or more computing devices included in auxiliary system  906 . As another example, auxiliary system  906  may receive, from manipulating system  902 , and process image data representative of imagery captured by an imaging device attached to one of manipulator arms  912 . 
     In some examples, auxiliary system  906  may be configured to present visual content to surgical team members  910  who may not have access to the images provided to surgeon  910 - 1  at user control system  904 . To this end, auxiliary system  906  may include a display monitor  914  configured to display one or more user interfaces, such as images (e.g., 2D images, 3D images) of the surgical area, information associated with patient  908  and/or the surgical procedure, and/or any other visual content as may serve a particular implementation. For example, display monitor  914  may display images of the surgical area together with additional content (e.g., graphical content, contextual information, etc.) concurrently displayed with the images. In some embodiments, display monitor  914  is implemented by a touchscreen display with which surgical team members  910  may interact (e.g., by way of touch gestures) to provide user input to surgical system  900 . 
     Manipulating system  902 , user control system  904 , and auxiliary system  906  may be communicatively coupled one to another in any suitable manner. For example, as shown in  FIG.  9   , manipulating system  902 , user control system  904 , and auxiliary system  906  may be communicatively coupled by way of control lines  916 , which may represent any wired or wireless communication link as may serve a particular implementation. To this end, manipulating system  902 , user control system  904 , and auxiliary system  906  may each include one or more wired or wireless communication interfaces, such as one or more local area network interfaces, W-Fi network interfaces, cellular interfaces, etc. 
     In some examples, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-readable instructions may be provided in accordance with the principles described herein. The instructions, when executed by a processor of a computing device, may direct the processor and/or computing device to perform one or more operations, including one or more of the operations described herein. Such instructions may be stored and/or transmitted using any of a variety of known computer-readable media. 
     A non-transitory computer-readable medium as referred to herein may include any non-transitory storage medium that participates in providing data (e.g., instructions) that may be read and/or executed by a computing device (e.g., by a processor of a computing device). For example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, any combination of non-volatile storage media and/or volatile storage media. Exemplary non-volatile storage media include, but are not limited to, read-only memory, flash memory, a solid-state drive, a magnetic storage device (e.g. a hard disk, a floppy disk, magnetic tape, etc.), ferroelectric random-access memory (“RAM”), and an optical disc (e.g., a compact disc, a digital video disc, a Blu-ray disc, etc.). Exemplary volatile storage media include, but are not limited to, RAM (e.g., dynamic RAM). 
       FIG.  10    illustrates an exemplary computing device  1000  that may be specifically configured to perform one or more of the processes described herein. Any of the systems, units, computing devices, and/or other components described herein may be implemented by computing device  1000 . 
     As shown in  FIG.  10   , computing device  1000  may include a communication interface  1002 , a processor  1004 , a storage device  1006 , and an input/output (“I/O”) module  1008  communicatively connected one to another via a communication infrastructure  1010 . While an exemplary computing device  1000  is shown in  FIG.  10   , the components illustrated in  FIG.  10    are not intended to be limiting. Additional or alternative components may be used in other embodiments. Components of computing device  1000  shown in  FIG.  10    will now be described in additional detail. 
     Communication interface  1002  may be configured to communicate with one or more computing devices. Examples of communication interface  1002  include, without limitation, a wired network interface (such as a network interface card), a wireless network interface (such as a wireless network interface card), a modem, an audio/video connection, and any other suitable interface. 
     Processor  1004  generally represents any type or form of processing unit capable of processing data and/or interpreting, executing, and/or directing execution of one or more of the instructions, processes, and/or operations described herein. Processor  1004  may perform operations by executing computer-executable instructions  1012  (e.g., an application, software, code, and/or other executable data instance) stored in storage device  1006 . 
     Storage device  1006  may include one or more data storage media, devices, or configurations and may employ any type, form, and combination of data storage media and/or device. For example, storage device  1006  may include, but is not limited to, any combination of the non-volatile media and/or volatile media described herein. Electronic data, including data described herein, may be temporarily and/or permanently stored in storage device  1006 . For example, data representative of computer-executable instructions  1012  configured to direct processor  1004  to perform any of the operations described herein may be stored within storage device  1006 . In some examples, data may be arranged in one or more databases residing within storage device  1006 . 
     I/O module  1008  may include one or more I/O modules configured to receive user input and provide user output. I/O module  1008  may include any hardware, firmware, software, or combination thereof supportive of input and output capabilities. For example, I/O module  1008  may include hardware and/or software for capturing user input, including, but not limited to, a keyboard or keypad, a touchscreen component (e.g., touchscreen display), a receiver (e.g., an RF or infrared receiver), motion sensors, and/or one or more input buttons. 
     I/O module  1008  may include one or more devices for presenting output to a user, including, but not limited to, a graphics engine, a display (e.g., a display screen), one or more output drivers (e.g., display drivers), one or more audio speakers, and one or more audio drivers. In certain embodiments, I/O module  1008  is configured to provide graphical data to a display for presentation to a user. The graphical data may be representative of one or more graphical user interfaces and/or any other graphical content as may serve a particular implementation. 
     In some examples, any of the facilities described herein may be implemented by or within one or more components of computing device  1000 . For example, one or more applications  1012  residing within storage device  1006  may be configured to direct an implementation of processor  1004  to perform one or more operations or functions associated with processing facility  104  of system  100 . Likewise, storage facility  102  of system  100  may be implemented by or within an implementation of storage device  1006 . 
     In the preceding description, various exemplary embodiments have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto, and additional embodiments may be implemented, without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims that follow. For example, certain features of one embodiment described herein may be combined with or substituted for features of another embodiment described herein. The description and drawings are accordingly to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.