A bone reaming system using micro sensors for Internet force-feedback control

Abstract

The development of a medical surgical tool packaged with micro sensors for transmission of Supermedia information over the Internet is described in this paper. We define Supermedia as a set of communication media, which encompasses acoustic, force, visual, audio, temperature, tactile, and chemical (e.g., taste an smell) information, and which can be physically experienced by a communicator. In this project, we specifically develop Supermedia capability for a bone-reaming system that is used for intramedullary fixation procedure of fractured bone treatments. Thus far, transmission of temperature, force, and pressure information from MEMS sensors over the Internet has been demonstrated. Force-reflective control over the Internet using force information from a micro tip has also been shown. We have also packaged a MEMS pressure sensor inside a bone reaming guide-rod and proved that pressure variations inside a long cavity that simulated the environment inside a bone can be monitored, even with the guide-rod rotating up to 600rpm. This paper describes our experimental methods and gives the experimental results for these accomplishments.