PELVIC MANIPULATOR FOR FRACTURES REDUCTION

The surgical treatment of pelvic fractures has been proved to be technically challenging; 3D imaging and navigation can give a substantial benefit; a further step is here introduced with robotized fracture reduction. A specific device to be interfaced with existing surgical tables has been designed; its main specifications are allowing 3D fluoroscopy of wide areas, and housing a hexapod robot for fracture reduction. This robot can be remotely controlled by a joystick; therefore it can accurately reproduce reduction trajectories established in the pre-operative planning and it can maintain the reduced position while synthesis devices are applied. A prototype has been built and tested in order to assess its range of movement, its accuracy, and its learnability. Further efforts will address the implementation of navigated surgery and to the development of a haptic interface in order to let the surgeon sense soft tissue resistance.