A hexapod robot external fixator for computer assisted fracture reduction and deformity correction.

Using hexapod robot kinematics, an external fixator adjustable in all six spatial degrees of freedom was developed. As usual with a robot system, bone movements can be accomplished with high precision. Contrary to conventional external fixators any three-dimensional movement is realisable without giving up stability or the necessity to change parts of the construction during the treatment. At first a manually controlled fixator with appropriate software was developed. Then electromotor elements were added, resulting in a "fracture reduction robot" and a fixator featuring load measurement capabilities was built. Finally the concept was extended into an "intelligent fixator" which will accomplish automatically controlled fracture and deformity treatment in the future. Copyright 2004 Robotic Publications Ltd.