Bone recognition during the drilling process

When using automatic bone drilling tools, surgeons lose tactile information regarding bone condition and health. The aim of this work is to extend the capabilities of such automatic bone drilling systems by trying to identify cortical bone tissue properties through the analysis of the thrust force. Multiple experiments are performed in a CNC machine to obtain the profiles and mean values of the thrust force under several configurations of the drill bit rotational speed and the feed rate using a fresh bovine bone. These experimental force trends can be successfully identified using DRIBON automatic drilling tool and a similar bone specimen. Some final experiments with a porcine bone exhibit very different force levels, allowing the automatic system to recognize this discrepancy during the drilling process.