Abstract
Purpose
Robotic assistance in otologic surgery can reduce the task load of operating surgeons during the removal of bone around the critical structures in the lateral skull base. However, safe deployment into the anatomical passageways necessitates the development of advanced sensing capabilities to actively limit the interaction forces between the surgical tools and critical anatomy.
Methods
We introduce a surgical drill equipped with a force sensor that is capable of measuring accurate tool–tissue interaction forces to enable force control and feedback to surgeons. The design, calibration and validation of the force-sensing surgical drill mounted on a cooperatively controlled surgical robot are described in this work.
Results
The force measurements on the tip of the surgical drill are validated with raw-egg drilling experiments, where a force sensor mounted below the egg serves as ground truth. The average root mean square error for points and path drilling experiments is 41.7 (± 12.2) mN and 48.3 (± 13.7) mN, respectively.
Conclusion
The force-sensing prototype measures forces with sub-millinewton resolution and the results demonstrate that the calibrated force-sensing drill generates accurate force measurements with minimal error compared to the measured drill forces. The development of such sensing capabilities is crucial for the safe use of robotic systems in a clinical context.
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Funding
This work was supported in part by a grant from Galen Robotics, in part by Johns Hopkins University internal funds, and in part by NIDCD K08 Grant DC019708. Project Number: 90072284
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Under a license agreement between Galen Robotics, Inc and the Johns Hopkins University, Russell H. Taylor and Johns Hopkins University are entitled to royalty distributions on technology that may possibly be related to that discussed in this publication. Dr. Taylor also is a paid consultant to and owns equity in Galen Robotics, Inc. This arrangement has been reviewed and approved by the Johns Hopkins University in accordance with its conflict-of-interest policies.
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Chen, Y., Goodridge, A., Sahu, M. et al. A force-sensing surgical drill for real-time force feedback in robotic mastoidectomy. Int J CARS 18, 1167–1174 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11548-023-02873-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11548-023-02873-7