title: Robotic-assisted internal fixation of femoral fractures.
abstract: Closed surgical techniques for the internal fixation of femoral fractures require orthopaedic surgeons to work in close proximity to X-rays. In addition to the occupational health risk this imposes, inexperienced surgeons often encounter great difficulty in achieving optimal positioning of fracture repair fixtures. A vision-guided robotic system has been proposed as a possible solution to these problems and an initial investigation involving two exemplar orthopaedic procedures has been undertaken. Robotic surgery assistance imposes rigorous safety-related design constraints, since the orthopaedic robot must operate in close proximity to the patient and operating staff. The design and implementation of a purpose-built robotic system for orthopaedic surgery assistance is described in this paper.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Loughborough University of Technology.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bouazza-Marouf
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Browbank
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Hewit
mesh_terms: D005264:Femoral Fractures / Q000601:surgery*; D005593:Fracture Fixation, Internal; D006801:Humans; D009985:Orthopedics; D012371:Robotics; D012449:Safety