Robotic systems and methods for manipulating a cutting guide for a surgical instrument

#It is prevalent to use powered surgical instruments, such as saws, drills, reamers, etc. during surgical procedures. Generally, these surgical instruments may be operated by a user such as a surgeon. The surgical instruments include a cutting tool which is configured to cut tissue of a patient, such as bone, ligaments, skin, or the like.

#Often one or more cutting guides are employed to guide the cutting tools while making the necessary cuts. However, placing a cutting guide, which often includes fixing the cutting guide to the patient's tissue, can increase the time required for a surgery. Some of the goals of robotic surgery is to increase cutting accuracy and reduce cutting time. Accordingly, efforts have been made to employ robotic systems to place cutting guides. However, further improvements to such robotic systems are needed.

#A robotic surgery system is provided for use with a surgical saw having a saw blade. The robotic surgery system comprises a robotic manipulator and an end effector including a cutting guide to be coupled to the robotic manipulator. The cutting guide is configured to guide the saw blade so that the saw blade cuts a bone along a desired cutting plane. A control system is coupled to the robotic manipulator to control a location of the cutting guide relative to the bone by: autonomously positioning the cutting guide at a target orientation relative to the bone so that the saw blade aligns with the desired cutting plane when the saw blade cooperates with the cutting guide; and constraining movement of the cutting guide as a user manually manipulates the end effector to cause the cutting guide to move toward the bone to an initial guide location adjacent to the bone such that the cutting guide remains in the target orientation at the initial guide location. The control system is configured to facilitate withdrawal of the cutting guide away from the initial guide location to a spaced guide location after the user makes an initial cut in the bone with the saw blade along the desired cutting plane. The cutting guide remains in the target orientation at the spaced guide location and the spaced guide location is suitable for the saw blade to continue cutting the bone along the desired cutting plane.

#Advantages of the present disclosure will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.

#FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a robotic surgery system in an operating room.

#FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a control system of the robotic surgery system.

#Referring to FIG. 1, a robotic surgery system 10 is shown for use in surgical procedures. Such surgical procedures include, for example, knee procedures, hip procedures, shoulder procedures, ankle procedures, spine procedures, cranial procedures, dental procedures, and the like. Typically, the surgical procedure will include the cutting of hard tissue of a patient 12, such as bone, but may additionally or alternatively include the cutting of soft tissue, such as ligaments or skin. In some versions, the robotic surgery system 10 is designed to cut away tissue from the patient 12 to be replaced by surgical implants such as knee, hip, shoulder, ankle, spine, cranial, or dental implants, including unicompartmental, bicompartmental, or total knee implants, acetabular cups, femoral implants, humerus implants, glenoid implants, tibial implants, talus implants, pedicle screws, tissue anchors, electrodes, dental implants, and the like. It should be appreciated that although the description that follows focuses on placement of a total knee implant system on a femur F and tibia T, this is merely exemplary and is not intended to be limiting.

#The robotic surgery system 10 comprises a navigation system 14 including a localizer 16, tracking devices 18, and one or more displays 20. The navigation system 14 is set up to track movement of various objects in the operating room, as described further below. The navigation system 14 tracks these objects for purposes of displaying their relative positions and orientations to a user and, in some cases, for purposes of controlling placement of one or more of the instruments or tools used in the robotic surgery system 10.

#The robotic surgery system 10 also comprises a robotic manipulator 22 including a robotic arm 24 and a base 26. The robotic arm 24 includes a base link 28 rotatably coupled to the base 26 and a plurality of arm links 30 serially extending from the base link 28 to a distal end 32. The arm links 30 pivot/rotate about a plurality of joints in the robotic arm 24 via joint motors (not shown). Serial, parallel, or other robotic arm configurations may be employed. The robotic manipulator 22 may be disposed and supported on a floor surface, attached to the operating room table, and/or attached to the patient 12, or may be otherwise disposed to carry out the surgical procedure. In one embodiment, the robotic manipulator 22 comprises the RIO™ Robotic Arm Interactive Orthopedic System manufactured by MAKO Surgical Corp. of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., USA.