Taming the bull: safety in a precise surgical robot

The authors have developed an image directed robotic system for orthopaedic bone machining applications, aimed initially at cementless total hip replacement surgery. A clinical trial in dogs needing such surgery has begun. The fact that the application requires a robot to move a tool in contact with a patient has motivated the authors to implement a number of redundant consistency checking mechanisms. The paper provides a brief system overview and outlines the requirements defined by the veterinary surgeon who uses the system. It then describes the authors' approach to implementing these requirements and concludes with a few remarks about their experience so far and possible extensions of their work.>