Smart Drill for a Streamlined Estimation of the Drilling Angle and Channel Length in Orthopedic Surgical Procedures

The estimation of distances and angles is a routine part of an orthopedic surgical procedure. However, despite their prevalence, these steps are most often performed manually, heavily relying on the surgeon's skill and experience. To address these issues, this study presents a sensor-equipped drill system which enables automatic estimation of the drilling angle and channel length. The angular accuracy and precision of the system were tested over a range of inclination angles and proved to be superior to the manual approach, with mean absolute errors ranging from 1.9 to 4.5 degrees for the manual approach, and from 0.6 to 1.3 degrees with the guided approach. When sensors were used for simultaneous estimation of both the inclination and anteversion angles, the obtained mean absolute errors were 0.35 ± 0.25 and 2 ± 1.33 degrees for the inclination and anteversion angles, respectively. Regarding channel length estimation, using measurements obtained with a Vernier caliper as a reference, the mean absolute error was 0.33 mm and the standard deviation of errors was 0.41 mm. The obtained results indicate a high potential of smart drill systems for improvement of accuracy and precision in orthopedic surgical procedures, enabling better patient clinical outcomes.