Ex vivo accuracy evaluation for robot assisted laser bone ablation

Abstract

Background Cutting bony tissue using short-pulsed laser ablation enables contact-free processing in arbitrary shapes and with considerably smaller incision widths compared with mechanical tools. This precise method necessitates assistance by robotic surgery. Methods Using a prototype system for robot assisted laser bone ablation, the complete workflow was evaluated. Planning of cutting incisions was performed based on CT datasets of an ex vivo bone of a pig. After registration the preplanned cutting was executed autonomously by the robot assisted laser ablation system. Results Evaluation of post-operative measurements revealed an overall positioning accuracy of less than 0.5 mm. Conclusion Robot assisted laser bone ablation has the potential to revolutionize surgery, especially in those interventions where the accuracy achievable manually is not sufficient. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.