US Patent Issued to Intuitive Surgical Operations on Feb. 10 for "Medical instrument having single input for driving multiple cables" (Florida, Connecticut Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 11 -- United States Patent no. 12,544,171, issued on Feb. 10, was assigned to Intuitive Surgical Operations Inc. (Sunnyvale, Calif.).

"Medical instrument having single input for driving multiple cables" was invented by Robert C. Reid (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) and Justin D. Krom (Southington, Conn.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A medical instrument includes a shaft, a wrist, a mechanical structure, a first cable, and a second cable. The wrist is coupled to the distal end portion of the shaft. The mechanical structure is coupled to a proximal end portion of the shaft and includes a capstan assembly. The capstan assembly includes a first cable drum having a first radius a...