Researchers develop drill to cut surgery time from hours to minutes

Use of an automated, robotic drill for future surgeries could cut the procedure from two hours to two and a half minutes and make a type of complex cranial surgery 50 times faster than standard procedures.

The drill was developed by researchers at the University of Utah. It produces fast, clean, and safe cuts, shortens the time the wound was open and the patient is anesthetised, and in the process, reduces the chances of infection, human error, and surgical cost.

In complex surgeries, especially cranial surgeries,  surgeons are required to typically use hand drills to make intricate openings, adding hours to a procedure.
 
"It was like doing archaeology," said William Couldwell, MD, PhD, a neurosurgeon at University of Utah Health, ANI reported. "We had to slowly take away the bone to avoid sensitive structures."

He saw a need for a device that could reduce the burden and make the process more efficient.
 
"We knew the technology was already available in the machine world, but no one ever applied it to medical applications," Couldwell who led an interdisciplinary team at the University to develop the drill said.

"My expertise is dealing with the removal of metal quickly, so a neurosurgical drill was a new concept for me," explains A K Balaji, PhD, associate professor in mechanical engineering at the university.

The patient is first imaged using a CT scan to gather bone data and identify the exact location of sensitive structures, such as nerves and major veins and arteries that would need to be avoided. The information would then be used by surgeons to programme the cutting path of the drill.

Additionally, the surgeon could programme safety barriers along the cutting path within 1 mm of sensitive structures.