Abstract
Computer- and robot-assisted Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA) can achieves the accurate bone cutting while the operation time is increased. Meanwhile, minimally invasive surgery (MIS-TKA) has been attempted recently, but there are some issues to realize the acceptable machining precision. To achieve the accurate MIS-TKA, the authors have developed the robot-assisted MIS-TKA system. One of the difficulties to achieve robot-assisted MIS-TKA is the decision of incision location. It is difficult to determine the optimal incision location for the robotic system and that cause the incision many times and longer the surgical time. In this study a system is proposed to present the optimal incision location before the actual incision and the efficiency is evaluated. The experiments with pig leg and model bone showed that the incision length could be less than 80 mm and the experiments were completed with 45 minutes from leg fixation to bone cutting.
