Collaborative Drill Alignment in Surgical Robotics

Abstract

Robotic assistance allows surgeries to be reliably and accurately executed while still under the direct supervision of the surgeon, combining the strengths of robotic technology with the surgeon’s expertise. This article describes a robotic system designed to assist in surgical procedures by implementing a virtual drill guide. The system integrates virtual-fixture functionality using a novel virtual-mechanism controller with additional visual feedback. The controller constrains the tool to the desired axis, while allowing axial motion to remain under the surgeon’s control. Compared to prior virtual-fixture approaches—which primarily perform pure energy-shaping and damping injection with linear springs and dampers–our controller uses a virtual prismatic joint to which the robot is constrained by nonlinear springs, allowing us to easily shape the dynamics of the system. We detail the calibration procedures required to achieve sufficient precision and describe the implementation of the controller. We apply this system to a veterinary procedure: drilling for transcondylar screw placement in dogs. The results of the trials on 3D-printed bone models demonstrate sufficient precision to perform the procedure and suggest improved angular accuracy and reduced exit translation errors compared to patient-specific guides (PSGs). Discussion and future improvements follow.