Position control of a surgical robot by a navigation system

In orthopaedic surgery, the development of computer based new technologies such as navigation systems and robotics will facilitate more precise, reproducible results of surgical interventions. There are already commercial systems available for clinical use which, however, still have some limitations and drawbacks. Most of them can only be applied in a very narrow application range and it is not possible to use them in less or minimal invasive surgery because they need large incisions for a rigid bone fixation to avoid patient movements. This paper presents a new modular surgical assistant system. The surgical robot, which is one part of the system, is position controlled by a navigation system to detect and compensate small patient movements automatically. By this approach optimal tool position can be maintained ail the time during the surgery without additional rigid bone or patient fixation. A modular tool system and an open modular software architecture facilitates an easy adjustment to support various surgical procedures especially in less invasive surgery.