System for robot assisted orthognathic surgery
International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery, 2 (S1), pp. 419–421, 2007
Abstract
Dentofacial deformities often require a combined orthodontic and surgical approach. Misalignment of the teeth and aberrance of the normal occlusion of the jaws, where orthognathic surgery became the standard practice, are the problems addressed in this paper. The preoperative planning of orthognathic interventions is often supported by computerassistance. On the other hand, robot assisted intraoperative approaches are not yet developed. In this paper we present an robotic assistant system developed for orthognathic surgery, especially for maxillary osteotomies. Acting like an intelligent restraint system, the robot system ensures the correct positioning of the resected bone segments in six degrees of freedom in their planned target position during the fixation procedure. We developed a prototype end-effector for LeFort I osteotomies for maxillary advancement, which can be adapted to other orthognathic interventions.