Patent ID: 7594912

Claim:
A remote center manipulator for constraining a position of a surgical instrument coupled to an instrument holder during minimally invasive robotic surgery, the surgical instrument including an elongate shaft, the shaft having a distal working end configured for insertion into a body cavity of a patient through a remote center of manipulation, the remote center manipulator comprising: a mounting base; a parallelogram linkage base coupled to the mounting base for rotation about a first axis, the first axis intersecting the remote center of manipulation; a first link having a first link proximal end and a first link distal end, the first link proximal end coupled to the parallelogram linkage base at a base joint; a second link having a second link proximal end and a second link distal end, the second link proximal end coupled to the first link distal end, the second link distal end coupled to the instrument holder; the parallelogram linkage base having an offset axis angularly offset from the first axis; and a first parallelogram axis intersecting the base joint and the remote center of manipulation, the first parallelogram axis being angularly offset from the first axis.