Reduction of femoral shaft fractures in vitro by a new developed reduction robot system 'RepoRobo'.

Closed reduction of the long bones is associated with the use of considerable force. This force must be maintained for the reduction maneuver and fixation process. At present, apart from the extension table or the large AO distractor, only rather inadequate reduction aids are available. A solution to this problem is being sought in the form of a robotic system with which precision can be improved and the holding effort reduced. In the research project presented here, a synthetic femur with integrated tensioned mainspring and a 32-A3 type fracture served as a bone reduction model. The fracture was stabilized with a standard AO fixator. A Stäubli robot (model RX130) was converted by appropriate modification so that it could be used for the reduction of femoral shaft fractures in vitro. The robot was equipped with a pneumatic 2-fingered gripper, on which the fingers have been modified so that they can grip the AO fixator clamp. A Force-Feedback-Sensor was inserted between the gripper and the robot to obtain online recordings of the forces and moments in all three axes. With this setup it is possible to achieve precise reduction of the fracture in all planes under visual control.