Optimizing controlled laser cutting of hard tissue (bone)

Conventional bone surgery leads to unwanted damage to the surrounding tissues and a slow healing process for the patients. Additionally, physicians are not able to perform free cutting shapes due to the limitations of available systems. These issues can be overcome by robot-assisted contactless laser surgery since it provides less mechanical stress, allows precise functional cuts, and leads to faster healing. The remaining drawback of laser surgery is the low ablation rate that is not yet competitive with conventional mechanical piezo-osteotomes. Therefore, we aim at maximizing the efficiency in hard tissue laser ablation by optimizing the lateral movement speed for different irrigation conditions. The results of this study show a non-linear relationship between cutting rates, speeds, and depths that should be critically considered for integration in robotic laser surgery.