Purpose: Robotic assistance in otologic surgery can reduce the task load of operating surgeons during the removal of bone around the critical structures in the lateral skull base. However, safe deployment into the anatomical passageways necessitates the development of advanced sensing capabilities to actively limit the interaction forces between the surgical tools and critical anatomy. Methods: We introduce a surgical drill equipped with a force sensor that is capable of measuring accurate tool-tissue interaction forces to enable force control and feedback to surgeons. The design, calibration and validation of the force-sensing surgical drill mounted on a cooperatively controlled surgical robot are described in this work. Results: The force measurements on the tip of the surgical drill are validated with raw-egg drilling experiments, where a force sensor mounted below the egg serves as ground truth. The average root mean square error (RMSE) for points and path drilling experiments are 41.7 (pm 12.2) mN and 48.3 (pm 13.7) mN respectively. Conclusions: The force-sensing prototype measures forces with sub-millinewton resolution and the results demonstrate that the calibrated force-sensing drill generates accurate force measurements with minimal error compared to the measured drill forces. The development of such sensing capabilities is crucial for the safe use of robotic systems in a clinical context.

翻译：目的：机器人辅助耳科手术可减少在侧颅底关键结构周围骨组织移除过程中操作外科医生的任务负荷。然而，安全部署至解剖通道需要开发先进传感能力，以主动限制手术工具与关键解剖结构之间的交互力。方法：本文介绍一种配备力传感器的手术钻，该钻具能够精确测量工具-组织交互力，从而实现对力的控制及向外科医生的力反馈。本文阐述了安装于协作控制手术机器人上的力传感手术钻的设计、校准与验证过程。结果：通过生鸡蛋钻孔实验验证了手术钻尖端的力测量精度——实验中将置于鸡蛋下方的力传感器作为真值。点钻与路径钻孔实验的平均均方根误差（RMSE）分别为41.7（±12.2）mN和48.3（±13.7）mN。结论：该力传感原型样机可实现亚毫牛级的力测量精度，且结果表明，与实测钻头力相比，校准后的力传感钻具能生成误差极小的精确力测量值。此类传感能力的开发对于临床背景下机器人系统的安全应用至关重要。