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. 2018 Mar 20:5:13-18.
doi: 10.2147/RSRR.S142562. eCollection 2018.

A hand-guided robotic drill for cochleostomy on human cadavers

Xinli Du  1 , Peter N Brett  2 , Yu Zhang  1 , Philip Begg  3 , Alistair Mitchell-Innes  3 , Chris Coulson  3 , Richard Irving  3
Affiliations

A hand-guided robotic drill for cochleostomy on human cadavers

Xinli Du et al. Robot Surg. .

Abstract

Background: An arm supported robotic drill has been recently demonstrated for preparing cochleostomies in a pilot research clinical trial. In this paper, a hand-guided robotic drill is presented and tested on human cadaver trials.

Methods: The innovative smart tactile approach can automatically detect drilling mediums and decided when to stop drilling to prevent penetrating the endosteum. The smart sensing scheme has been implemented in a concept of a hand guided robotic drill.

Results: Experiments were carried out on two adult cadaveric human bodies for verifying the drilling process and successfully finished cochleostomy on three cochlea. The advantage over a system supported by a mechanical arm includes the flexibility in adjusting the trajectory to initiate cutting without slipping. Using the same concept as a conventional drilling device, the user will also be benefit from the lower setup time and cost, and lower training overhead.

Conclusion: The hand-guided robotic drill was recently developed for testing on human cadavers. The robotic drill successfully prepared cochleostomies in all three cases.

Keywords: cochlear implantation; drilling cochleostomies; hand guided robot; hearing preservation; smart sensing; surgical robot.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Diagram illustrating the anatomy of the ear and location of a cochleostomy. Note: Reproduced with the permission of John Wiley and Sons. Du X, Assadi MZ, Jowitt F, et al. Robustness analysis of a smart surgical drill for cochleostomy. Int J Med Robot. 2013;9(1):119–126.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The experimental hand-guided surgical robot drill system. Note: Open Access Creative Commons, Brett P, Du X, Zoka-Assadi M, Coulson C, Reid A, Proops D. Feasibility study of a hand guided robotic drill for cochleostomy. Biomed Res Int. 2014;2014:7.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The hand-guided robotic drill unit. Note: Open Access Creative Commons, Brett P, Du X, Zoka-Assadi M, Coulson C, Reid A, Proops D. Feasibility study of a hand guided robotic drill for cochleostomy. Biomed Res Int. 2014;2014:7.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Drilling cochleostomy using hand-guided robotic drill on cadaver.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The finished cochleostomy using both hand-guided robotic drill and conventional surgical drill with endosteal membrane.
Figure 6
Figure 6
A typical force and torque transient during the drilling.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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