Patent ID: 7991509

Claim:
An augmented surgical appliance comprising: a plurality of surgical units, said surgical units each comprising at least one effector for applying a surgical tool to a patient's tissue; at least one controller unit; and an interface unit, said interface unit having a plurality of hand controllers for receiving positioning inputs from an operator, said interface unit further providing force feedback signals to an operator of said interface unit, wherein said plurality of surgical units are communicably connected to said controller; wherein said interface unit is communicably connected to said controller; and wherein said controller comprises software for transforming input received from said interface unit into control signals communicable to said surgical units, and wherein said software further comprises functionality to allow an operator to associate desired effectors with desired hand controllers and receive an indication from said operator that an effector and/or instrument associated with a surgical unit should be moved to a retracted position when the effector and/or instrument is no longer associated with a hand controller.