PRECISION BONE DRILL AND METHOD OF USE

摘要

Disclosed is a drilling device and a method for the drilling of human or animal bone tissue. The method comprises the following steps; (a) providing a drill having an electrically conductive bone cutter and an electrically conducting nosepiece assembly spaced apart from the electrically conductive bone cutter and acting as a counter electrode; (b) placing the electrically conductive bone cutter and nosepiece assembly into contact with the bone tissue to be drilled; (c) measuring the electrical impedance between the bone cutter tip and the nosepiece or the current through the cutter motor; (d) commencing drilling and moving the bone cutter toward the bone surface; (e) starting a step counter when the impedance reduces or the cutter motor current increases; (f) incrementing the step counter with every step of the vertical drive motor until the step count reaches the prespecified value thereby controlling the depth of the hole drilled.

主权项

1. A method of drilling through bone comprising the steps of:providing a bone drilling device, said device comprising:
(a) a housing that includes a drilling assembly and an electrically conductive nosepiece assembly to be placed in contact with bone tissue to be drilled; (b) a bone cutter rotated by an electric motor which is mobile in translation in the housing and wherein the bone cutter is electrically conductive and is adapted to be moved into and out of the bone tissue being drilled; (c) a control module electrically connected to the drilling assembly for controlling the translation of the bone cutter in the housing and into and out of the bone tissue being drilled; (d) a sensor, electrically connected to the drilling assembly and to the control module for detecting a change in an electrical impedance between the bone cutter and the surface of the bone tissue being drilled; wherein the sensor, upon detection of a change in the electrical impedance corresponding to a transition between air (no load; high electrical impedance) and bone tissue surface, sends a signal to the control module to begin incrementing a step counter; (e) automatically reverse the direction of the vertical drive motor when the step counter reaches a prespecified count, thereby withdrawing the bone cutter from the bone tissue being drilled, and thereby controlling the depth of the drilled hole.