Toward robot-assisted hard osteolytic lesion treatment using a continuum manipulator.

In this paper, we describe the design and fabrication of an actuation unit for controlling a continuum dexterous manipulator (CDM). The actuation unit is attached to a positioning robot and the integrated system provides sufficient dexterity for placement of a proposed flexible cutting tool used for treatment of oseteolysis (bone degradation). Preliminary experiments on simulated osteolytic lesions demonstrated the feasibility of using the novel flexible cutter inside the continuum manipulator. In these experiments, we found an optimal combination of rotational and sweeping speed of the cutter through the lesion. We also investigated the buckling of the flexible cutter during the cutting procedure.