The construction of the prototype of a self-balancing Navigation system capable to turn itself into a robot, reaching the positions required to precisely guide a tool during a surgical procedure is under way. The instrument, basically a measuring device, is characterised by the presence of three arms, each having six degrees of freedom. The instrument is hence able to measure the relative position between any of its extremes, two of the arms being only passive (measuring arms) the third being movable both actively and passively (the operating arm). Each arm has basically the configuration of a SCARA Robot, mounted on a vertical slide and counterbalanced by a weight mounted on a second vertical slide, the other extreme being either in the doctor's hands or hooked to the patient. The transition from passive to active operation is caused by special brakes electrically activated. The same brakes are used also to block the instrument in any configuration, which is necessary in order to correctly position the active arm with respect to the bone structure. This last is fixed to the passive arms using special connectors, that allow positioning the arm in a unique way with respect to a clamp nailed into the patient bone. Special attention is dedicated in this paper to the operational mode of the special brakes and to the problem of calibration. The system allows representing in Enhanced Reality a surgical procedure once initial calibration images or CAT information are acquired, indicating with the operating arm the correct position for surgery. New procedures to bypass or dramatically reduce the need of ionizing equipment are also under study. Like most navigation systems, the system is able to "navigate" the patient's body. However, unlike other surgical robots, it does not pretend to be a doctor, but, indeed, a simple surgical assistant. Patent applications cover the entire instrument.
Navi-Robot, a Navigator able to turn itself into a Robot to reach the correct position for a given task during Orthopaedic Surgical Procedures
FRAGOMENI G;MEROLA A
2005-01-01
Abstract
The construction of the prototype of a self-balancing Navigation system capable to turn itself into a robot, reaching the positions required to precisely guide a tool during a surgical procedure is under way. The instrument, basically a measuring device, is characterised by the presence of three arms, each having six degrees of freedom. The instrument is hence able to measure the relative position between any of its extremes, two of the arms being only passive (measuring arms) the third being movable both actively and passively (the operating arm). Each arm has basically the configuration of a SCARA Robot, mounted on a vertical slide and counterbalanced by a weight mounted on a second vertical slide, the other extreme being either in the doctor's hands or hooked to the patient. The transition from passive to active operation is caused by special brakes electrically activated. The same brakes are used also to block the instrument in any configuration, which is necessary in order to correctly position the active arm with respect to the bone structure. This last is fixed to the passive arms using special connectors, that allow positioning the arm in a unique way with respect to a clamp nailed into the patient bone. Special attention is dedicated in this paper to the operational mode of the special brakes and to the problem of calibration. The system allows representing in Enhanced Reality a surgical procedure once initial calibration images or CAT information are acquired, indicating with the operating arm the correct position for surgery. New procedures to bypass or dramatically reduce the need of ionizing equipment are also under study. Like most navigation systems, the system is able to "navigate" the patient's body. However, unlike other surgical robots, it does not pretend to be a doctor, but, indeed, a simple surgical assistant. Patent applications cover the entire instrument.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
