Robotic Surgical Cutting Plane Alignment Without Bone Attachment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing robotic systems for total knee arthroplasty require invasive attachment to the patient's bone, leading to potential bone fracture and inaccuracies due to manual adjustment of cutting planes, and are not optimized for saw-based cutting.
Innovation Solution
A surgical system with a robotic device featuring a cutting tool, an actuation unit with orthogonal motorized degrees of freedom, a passive articulated holding arm, and a tracking unit that aligns the cutting plane with target planes in real-time without invasive attachment, using a planar mechanism and a control unit to adjust the cutting tool's position and orientation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a robotic system uses invasive attachment to the patient's bone, then the stability and precision of cutting can be improved, but the risk of bone fracture and surgical complications increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a support unit as an intermediary element that provides mechanical support and stability without requiring invasive bone attachment. The support unit acts as a mediator between the robotic device and the patient's anatomy, enabling precise cutting while avoiding direct bone contact that could cause fractures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the traditional mechanical system of invasive bone fixation with a non-invasive support unit that uses alternative mechanical principles. Instead of anchoring to bone, the system uses external support structures that provide the necessary stability through different mechanical means, eliminating the harmful invasive attachment.
2Device complexity
If manual adjustment of cutting planes is used, then the device complexity is reduced, but the accuracy and reliability of cutting planes deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates a tracking unit that continuously monitors the position of the cutting tool and provides feedback to the control unit. This feedback mechanism enables automatic adjustment of the cutting plane to maintain accuracy, eliminating the need for complex manual adjustment mechanisms while ensuring precise cutting plane alignment throughout the procedure.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs self-adjustment through automated control based on tracking feedback. The control unit automatically modifies the cutting plane position without requiring manual intervention, making the system self-sufficient in maintaining cutting accuracy while reducing the complexity of adjustment mechanisms.
3Adaptability or versatility
If repositioning the robotic device is required during the procedure, then adaptability to anatomical variations is improved, but the surgical time and productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a dynamic support unit that can adapt its configuration in real-time during the surgical procedure. The support unit dynamically adjusts to accommodate anatomical variations without requiring repositioning of the entire robotic device, maintaining adaptability while preserving surgical efficiency and productivity.
Data Source
AI summary
Described are surgical systems comprising a robotic device comprising a cutting tool, an actuation unit having at least two motorized rotational degrees of freedom about respective rotational axes that are substantially orthogonal to each other, and configured for adjusting a position and orientation of the cutting tool relative to each target plane, a planar mechanism connecting the last segment of the actuation unit to the cutting tool, a passive articulated lockable holding arm supporting the actuation unit, a tracking unit configured to determine in real time the pose of the cutting plane with respect to the coordinate system of the anatomical structure, a control unit configured to determine the pose of the cutting plane with respect to the target plane and to control the actuation unit to bring the cutting plane into alignment with the target plane.