Incorporation of interoperability in a robot-assisted orthopedic surgery system

Abstract

The current robot-assisted surgery has built in significant safety features, force feedback system, pre-operative planning software, but due to a lack of communication between the robot and the surrounding medical devices, undesirable and potentially unsafe actions could still occur, endangering the patient condition. To achieve major improvement of safety during an operation, an interoperability feature is implemented in a robot-assisted orthopedic surgery system coupled with smart interactions between medical devices. The proposed design consists of integrating an interoperable central decision-making unit (CDMU), wirelessly activating safety interlocks on the surgical robot and preventing surgical complications. Two different patient states, namely, normal and critical risk states, were simulated, and the reactions of the designed system were analyzed. In the interoperability-based design, the system is able to achieve appropriate reactions to various situations at risk in a timely manner, increasing the confidence of the clinical staff operating then in a safer robot-assisted surgery environment. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.