US Patent 7844657 System for controlling medical devices

A system for controlling medical devices is disclosed, generally comprising a surgical network, an input device for entering a medical command, a controller for generating medical command data, and a translator for communicating with at least one ancillary device, where the ancillary device is either a device that is not compatible with the surgical network or is a device that generates high-bandwidth data. In some embodiments, the ancillary device is connected via Ethernet for high-bandwidth data transmission or via Bluetooth for wireless control.