Navigated discectomy and tool differentiation

A method of performing a spinal decompression of a patient, the method comprising:

• obtaining a customized discectomy plan from a database model with existing discectomy data based on patient specific parameters for the patient;
• inserting a navigated discectomy instrument into the disc space, the instrument having an articulating distal tip and a corresponding tracking marker configured to track movement of the articulating distal tip when articulated;
• tracking location, orientation, and movement of the articulating distal tip by a navigation system to perform a discectomy based on the customized discectomy plan;
• and
• collecting data throughout the discectomy and updating the database model with the newly collected data.

A system for performing a discectomy, the system comprising:

• a surgical robotic and navigation system having an on-board computer with software executed by one or more processing units, and storing and executing an existing database model with existing discectomy data;
• and
• a navigated discectomy instrument having a tracking array and an articulating distal tip with a corresponding tracking marker configured to track movement of the articulating distal tip when articulated,
• wherein the surgical robotic and navigation system provides customized guidance to a surgeon during a discectomy, and location, orientation, and movement of the articulating distal tip is trackable by the surgical robotic and navigation system.