IIT researchers develop a robot for less painful, more affordable spine surgeries

New Delhi: Researchers at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) have developed a 'Spine Surgery Robot', an image guided robotic system for minimally invasive and open spine surgeries that are less painful and more affordable.

The project funded by HRD Ministry, is India's first robotic system for spinal surgery - making such procedures right-first-time across skill level of surgeons and affordable to patients, the researchers at IIT Madras claim. "Minimally invasive spinal surgeries yield superior results compared to open spinal surgeries (needs expertise) with faster recovery time, lower infections and better outcomes.

The Spine Surgery Robot we have developed will help in reduction in procedure time, reducing hospital stay and recovering time for patient," said IIT Professor, Mohanasankar Sivaprakasam, who is leading the project. "Our product will also increase safety of the procedure for the patient and reducing surgeon's radiation exposure.

To provide intra-operative guidance, an external position tracker will be provided to independently track the tool placement and robotic position on need basis. "A calibration step will be performed for the external tracker to align the world coordinates to the 3D model and robot coordinate. Once calibrated, any movement of the tracker can be extrapolated on to the 3D model and the surgery plan. The system will have a rigid and high-impact-withstanding end effector or gripper to hold and position various tools and instruments to perform the surgery," the professor added. The product developed under the Uchhatar Avishkar Yojana (UAY) was recently displayed at TechEx event at IIT Delhi.