A robotic bone drilling methodology based on position measurements

Abstract

Over the past decades many studies have dealt with the development of robotic tools to improve the process of bone drilling. The main difficulty of the operation resides in the ability to detect bone layer transitions and/or protrusions during the procedure so that damage to surrounding tissue is minimized. The present paper set up a test bench in order to study some of the most relevant drilling methodologies in the literature. The study illustrates some of the drawbacks, and it proposes a new drilling methodology that provides improved results.