Designing an Impedance Control Algorithm for a Teleoperation System for Orthopedic Surgery

Surgeries, such as orthopedic surgeries, are always performed with the use of a free hand with the aid of a fluoroscopic device to drill and place the screw in the bone position. However, such surgeries are of high risk and radioactive contamination, and have long surgery duration. Since the drilling process is very important and usually depends on the skill of the surgeon, a teleoperation system is provided to perform this task. In order to gain better control over the patient's body by the surgeon, an impedance control algorithm that incorporates the robot's position and velocity signal along with the surgeon's hand force and bone response force is provided in order for the surgeon to have proper control over the surgical process. Finally, drilling operation is performed on a cow bone to evaluate the teleoperation system presented. The results of the teleoperation system show that the desired system is acceptable under the proposed control algorithm. The results show that the drilling tool on the cow bone correctly follows the surgeon's hand position and the surgeon correctly feels the force applied to the tool by the cow bone.