APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR REGISTERING THE POSITION OF A SURGICAL ROBOT

摘要

An apparatus and method for the position of a surgical robot, prior to its use for computer-aided surgery, has a probe ( 37 ) on the end of a robot, allowing the location of the robot to be registered with respect to a bone ( 33 ) to be cut. Prior to the procedure, the location of the robot is also registered with respect to a bone clamp ( 10 ) by touching the end of the probe ( 37 ) into depressions ( 15 ) formed in the clamp surface. If the robot needs to be moved, with respect to the bone, its position can be accurately re-registered by touching the probe tip back into some of the depressions ( 15 ) in the clamp. The system allows easy re-registration without the need either for expensive tracking systems or the use of fiducial markers inserted into the patient's bone.