Development of a novel end effector for human guided spinal fusion

Abstract

In order to engage in surgeon's operation using an end effector more actively in spinal fusion surgery, the end effector should (a) be able to substitute existing operation procedures using installed surgical tools, (b) be small size, and (c) be light weight. This paper proposes a noble end effector for human guided spinal fusion to accomplish the goals. Based on human bone properties, we developed the simple and light end effector for spinal fusion including surgical tools used at spinal fusion. It can operate to gimlet cortical bone and to insert screws into sponge bone. The end effector also supports the function of automatic tool-changing so that it can provide improved convenience for a surgeon. The performance of the end effector was verified by experiments.