Computer Integrated Surgical Robot System for Spinal Fusion

Abstract

A new Computer Integrated Surgical Robot system is composed of a surgical robot, a surgical planning system, and an optical tracking system. The system plays roles of an assisting surgeon and taking the place of surgeons for inserting a pedicle screw in spinal fusion. Compared to pure surgical navigation systems as well as conventional methods for spinal fusion, it is able to achieve better accuracy through compensating for the portending movement of the surgical target area. Furthermore, the robot can position and guide needles, drills, and other surgical instruments or conducts drilling/screwing directly. Preoperatively, the desired entry point, orientation, and depth of surgical tools for pedicle screw insertion are determined by the surgical planning system based on CT/MR images. Intra-operatively, position information on surgical instruments and targeted surgical areas is obtained from the navigation system. Two exemplary experiments employing the developed image-guided surgical robot system are conducted.