A Dexterous Robotic System for Autonomous Debridement of Osteolytic Bone Lesions in Confined Spaces: Human Cadaver Studies

This article presents a dexterous robotic system for autonomous debridement of osteolytic bone lesions in confined spaces. The proposed system is distinguished from the state-of-the-art orthopedics systems because it combines a rigid-link robot with a continuum manipulator (CM) that enhances reach in difficult-to-access spaces often encountered in surgery. The CM is equipped with flexible debriding instruments and fiber Bragg grating sensors. The surgeon plans on the patient’s preoperative computed tomography and the robotic system performs the task autonomously under the surgeon’s supervision. An optimization-based controller generates control commands on the fly to execute the task while satisfying physical and safety constraints. The system design and controller are discussed and extensive simulation, phantom and human cadaver experiments are carried out to evaluate the performance, workspace, and dexterity in confined spaces. Mean and standard deviation of target placement are 0.5 and 0.18 mm, and the robotic system covers 91% of the workspace behind an acetabular implant in treatment of hip osteolysis, compared to the 54% that is achieved by conventional rigid tools.