Automated drilling device and method

Abstract

A surgical device for automated drilling includes a drill comprising a drill bit configured to bore through bone and a detector comprising a tissue detection sensor. The drill and detector are independently actuable for insertion and removal of the drill bit and the tissue detection sensor in a bore generated by the drill bit. A surgical system can include the surgical device and a controller configured to actuate the drill to bore through bone, actuate the drill to retract the drill bit from the bore, actuate the detector to insert the tissue detection sensor into the bore, and determine a tissue characteristic at a distal location of the bore based on a sensed signal from the tissue detection sensor.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.