Surgical instrument

Abstract

Surgical instrument (1) comprising a longitudinal shaft (2) with a tip portion (3), a rear portion (4) and a longitudinal axis (5) and rotatable in the clock-wise and in the counter-clockwise direction around the longitudinal axis (5), said surgical instrument (1) further comprising: A) first means (6) for drilling a hole in a bone by rotation of the shaft (2) in one of the two directions; B) second means (7) for crushing bone tissue when the shaft (2) rotates in the other of the two directions; and C) a torque sensor (10) coupled to the shaft (2). Method for measuring the local mechanical resistance of a porous body comprising the steps of: a) drilling a hole to a desired depth into a porous body by advancing and rotating the shaft (2) in a first sense of rotation, preferably clockwise so that said first means (6) are active; b) hammering the shaft (2) gently further into the porous body as far as the tip portion (3) of the shaft (2) has reached a desired measuring position; and c) performing the torque measurement by rotating the shaft (2) in the opposite second sense of rotation, preferably counter-clockwise so that said second means (7) are active.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.