Autonomous Reaming for Total Hip Replacement Surgery
MRSD Capstone Project
September 2021 - December 2022 | Software Engineering Lead
ARTHuR is a fully autonomous robotic arm aimed at performing acetabular reaming with high accuracy, eliminating the need of surgeons to use intuition to correctly position/angle the reamer, during hip replacement surgery.
Total Hip Arthroplasty (THA) Surgery as performed today, involves reaming of the acetabulum (pelvis) to remove damaged bone from the hip joint. One of the most crucial factors in determining a successful surgery is the accuracy of acetabular cup position and orientation placement. The correct position and orientation avoids future dislocation of the hip joint and increases patient comfort. Therefore, it is imperative that surgeons know exactly what orientation and depth they are reaming the acetabulum to.
However, most surgeons cannot see the site of surgery during reaming, leading to malpositioned cups. In fact, it is estimated that less than 50% of THA outcomes are within surgical safe zones (Lewinnek Safe Zone). While there are modern robotic systems that can help mitigate this problem, all increase the time of surgery and lack robustness during surgery.
To meet this need, our team proposes ARTHuR (Autonomous Reaming for Total Hip Replacement) Robot.