Patent ID: 7074179

Claim:
A system that allows a user to control a movement of an endoscope, the endoscope being located within an endoscope coordinate system that has a left-right axis and an up-down axis which are orthogonal to each other and to a longitudinal axis of the endoscope, comprising: a robotic arm linkage located in a world coordinate system and supporting the endoscope; a display showing a viewing image taken by the endoscope, the display located in the world coordinate system and the viewing image taken in the endoscope coordinate system; a first actuator coupled to said robotic arm; a second actuator that is coupled to said robotic arm, said first and second actuators being capable of moving the endoscope; an input device that can receive a command from the user to effect a commanded movement of the endoscope along the up-down axis in the endoscope coordinate system; a controller that receives the user command, the controller computing a transformation of the commanded movement of the endoscope in the endoscope coordinate system to a movement of the endoscope in the world coordinate system, and provides output signals to said first and second actuators to move the endoscope in the world coordinate system so that the endoscope moves along the up-down axis.