Patent ID: 7107090

Claim:
A robotically controlled surgical system comprising: a surgical instrument; an image capture device positionable so as to capture an image of a surgical site; at least one image display coupled to the image capture device so as to display the image of the surgical sire; a master control input device; a source of auxiliary information; and at least one processor coupled to the surgical instrument, the image capture device, the at least one image display, the master control input device, and the source of auxiliary information, and coupling the master control input device to the surgical instrument and the source of auxiliary information so as to allow manipulation of the surgical instrument in response to manipulation of the master control input device while the master control input device is operatively associated with the surgical instrument, and allow manipulation of the auxiliary information on the image display in response to manipulation of the master control input device while the operative association between the master control input device and the surgical instrument is interrupted.