Towards Accurate Drilling Guidance for Orthopaedic Surgery

The accuracy of positioning wires and screws via drilling is crucial in orthopaedic surgery having a significant effect to the quality of life for patients. Some operations require multiple attempts or have to settle for sub-optimal results, especially for small bones. The current method use peri-operative X-rays perform the procedure, being limited by 2D visualisation and the danger of radiation for staff and patients. An alternative is the use of OR-wide tracking systems and the application of computer-assisted methods. These are limited by accidental occlusions and complex registration and setup procedures.

In this work we are proposing a new method that is using localised tracking to achieve accurate drilling in the first pass. Using a compact design and simplified tracking approach a first proof-of-concept prototype has been evaluated achieving an average error of 2.10mm. Based on this first attempt the next technical and procedure steps are described to enable the utilisation of the proposed approach.