A SIMPLE NAVIGATION ROBOT FOR SPINAL SURGERY - Design Concept And the Prototype Development -

摘要

Image-guided spine surgery is gradually spreading with the advancement of pre-surgical simulations using X-ray CT or MR images to realize minimally invasive and safer surgery. In the case of vertebrae cervical bone fixation surgery, a high positioning accuracy is required during drilling to avoid injuring the dura mater spinalis and vertebral arteries inside the vertebral bone. However, when using an image-guided navigation system, we encounter difficulties in obtaining accurate "registration" between the navigation results and the device, such as a needle, screw or drill; these mainly arise from either surgeon's hand tremor or complicated spatial orientation relations. To solve these problems, we have developed the first prototype of a simple robot having two degrees-of-freedom (2-DOF), which controls the orientation of a device. The characteristics of the robot: low DOF, restricted moving range, and its light weight, enable the realization of straightforward operation for clinical use.