ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 21 -- United States Patent no. 12,440,196, issued on Oct. 14, was assigned to INTUITIVE SURGICAL OPERATIONS INC. (Sunnyvale, Calif.).
"Systems and methods for confirming disc engagement" was invented by Niels Smaby (Palo Alto, Calif.), Gregory W. Dachs (San Mateo, Calif.) and Bruce M. Schena (Menlo Park, Calif.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A system comprises an instrument carriage configured to support an instrument. The instrument comprises a joint output and an input coupling configured to move the joint output. The instrument carriage comprises an actuating element. The actuating element comprises a drive input and an actuator coupled to drive the drive input. The d...