Visual Wrench-Guided Robot-Assisted Spine Surgery

Spinal surgeries are viewed as ones that pose a significant risk. The screw placement through a narrow pedicle forms a key procedure during the spine surgery. As the pedicle is in proximity to the spinal canal, even a small misalignment of the screw can be catastrophic. Hence, it is critical to have position and wrench trajectory feedback during robot-assisted spine surgery. In this paper, a visual wrench-guided robot-assisted surgery has been presented. The robot trajectory is characterized using the forces arising due to tool-tissue/bone interactions and the moments resulting from the point of application of force in the surgical area. Robot-assisted, phantom-based experiments were conducted to evaluate the usefulness of the wrench-guided surgery. The wrench diagrams were constructed with respect to the target points and the results are discussed. Visual wrench-guided surgery can effectively guide the insertion of the screw through the pedicle, thereby enhancing the accuracy of robot-assisted spine surgery.