title: In-vitro analysis of forces in conventional and ultrasonically assisted drilling of bone.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Drilling of bone is widely performed in orthopaedics for repair and reconstruction of bone. Current paper is focused on the efforts to minimize force generation during the drilling process. Ultrasonically Assisted Drilling (UAD) is a possible option to replace Conventional Drilling (CD) in bone surgical procedures.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to investigate and analyze the effect of drilling parameters and ultrasonic parameters on the level of drilling thrust force in the presence of water irrigation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Drilling tests were performed on young bovine femoral bone using different parameters such as spindle speeds, feed rates, coolant flow rates, frequency and amplitudes of vibrations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The drilling force was significantly dropped with increase in drill rotation speed in both types of drilling. Increase in feed rate was more influential in raising the drilling force in CD compared to UAD. The force was significantly dropped when ultrasonic vibrations up to 10 kHz were imposed on the drill. The drill force was found to be unaffected by the range of amplitudes and the amount of water supplied to the drilling region in UAD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Low frequency vibrations with irrigation can be successfully used for safe and efficient drilling in bone.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University, P.O. Box 33, Al-Khoud 123, Sultanate of Oman.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Alam
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University, P.O. Box 33, Al-Khoud 123, Sultanate of Oman.
authors.forename: Edris
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hassan
authors.affiliation: School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Syed Husain
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Imran
authors.affiliation: School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Mushtaq
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Khan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002417:Cattle; D004867:Equipment Design; D005269:Femur / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000601:surgery*; D019637:Orthopedic Procedures / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D014465:Ultrasonics / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Orthopaedic; bone drilling; drilling force; irrigation; ultrasonic drilling