An autonomous surgical robot for drilling a cochleostomy: preliminary porcine trial

Abstract

Objective: To produce an autonomous drilling robot capable of performing a bony cochleostomy whilst minimising the damage to the underlying cochlear endosteum.

Design: In this laboratory based study, a robotic drill was designed to measure the changes in force and torque experienced by the tool point during the drilling process. This information is used to predict the point of breakthrough and stop the drill prior to damaging the underlying endosteal membrane.

Setting: Aston University.

Participants: Five porcine cochleas.

Main outcomes measures: An assessment was made of whether a successful bony cochleostomy was performed, the integrity of endosteal membrane was then assessed.

Results: The autonomous surgical robotic drill successfully performed a bony cochleostomy and stopped without damaging the endosteal membrane in all five cases.

Conclusions: The autonomous surgical robotic drill can perform a cochleostomy whilst minimising the trauma to the endosteal membrane. The system allows information about the state of the drilling process to be derived using force and torque data from the tool point. This information can be used to effectively predict drill breakthrough and implement a control strategy to minimise drill penetration beyond the far surface.