An image-directed robotic system for precise orthopaedic surgery

We have developed an image-directed robotic system to augment the performance of human surgeons in precise bone machining procedures in orthopaedic surgery, initially targeted at cementless total hip replacement surgery. The total system consists of an interactive CT-based presurgical planning component and a surgical system consisting of a robot, redundant motion monitoring, and man-machine interface components. In vitro experiments conducted with this system have demonstrated an order-of-magnitude improvement in implant fit and placement accuracy, compared to standard manual preparation techniques. The first generation system described in this paper was used in a successful veterinary clinical trial on 26 dogs needing hip replacement surgery. It was the basis for subsequent development of a second-generation system that is now in human clinical trials.