US 10,568,704 · Granted 2020-02-25
The Surgeon's Throne: How Robot Surgery Consoles Adapt to Your Body
A surgeon sitting at a robotic surgery control station needs to see screens and reach buttons precisely for hours. This patent covers a smart chair that automatically raises, tilts, and repositions your displays and controls based on who's sitting in it — so a tall surgeon and a short surgeon both get the perfect view without manual tweaking.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers an ergonomic seat assembly for a surgical control console where the seat pan automatically tilts to a more forward angle when elevated, combined with a display and control system that automatically repositions itself based on the operator's stored seating profile. What's protected here is the integrated feedback loop: the chair recognizes the user, adjusts its own geometry, and simultaneously shifts where the screens and buttons are located so everything stays in the surgeon's optimal reach and sightline.
Why it matters
Robotic surgery requires a surgeon to sit motionless for extended periods while maintaining millimeter-level precision. An uncomfortable console position causes fatigue, which directly translates to surgical errors. By automating ergonomic adjustment rather than forcing manual tweaking, this patent removes friction from the handoff between surgeons and makes the system faster and safer to operate. It's the difference between a tool that demands tolerance and a tool that adapts to you.
Real-world use
When a surgeon logs into a robotic surgery system, the chair automatically lifts and tilts, the monitors slide into position, and the hand controls adjust their angle — all within seconds, based on that surgeon's saved preferences.
Original USPTO abstract
A user console for controlling a remote surgical robotic instrument may include an adjustable ergonomic seat assembly comprising a seat pan, where the seat assembly is configurable between a seated configuration and an elevated configuration, and where the seat pan has a higher anteverted position in the elevated configuration than in the seated configuration. The user console may further include a display configured to receive real time surgical information, and one or more controls for remotely controlling the robotic instrument. The display and/or the one or more controls may have multiple positions and change position automatically according to a seating profile associated with at least one user.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 10,568,704
- Filing date
- 2017-09-21
- Grant date
- 2020-02-25
- Assignee
- Verb Surgical Inc.
- Inventor(s)
- SAVALL, JOAN, GARCIA KILROY, Pablo E., NOBLES, BRENT, MOORE, DAVID
- CPC class
- A61B34/74
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