Orthognathic Surgical Robot with a Workspace Limitation Mechanism

Impracticable workspaces and cumbersome hardware limit the practical application of the currently available orthognathic surgical robots in a clinical environment. In this study, a compact and lightweight six degree of freedom (DOF) robot with a workspace limitation mechanism (WLM) was developed, and this article reports on the technical specifications of the robot, as well as the details of the three experiments performed to validate it. This robot can be easily installed by a single individual and is able to mechanically protect important organs from unintended injury. The results show that this robot functionally limits the workspace travel of the osteotomy device by an average overshoot of 0.8 mm, with a drilling and cutting accuracy of 1 and 0.5 mm, respectively. This operational accuracy has the potential to be further improved, making this novel robot a potentially precise and safe medical equipment for orthognathic surgery.