Thermal changes during drilling in human femur by rotary ultrasonic bone drilling machine: A histologic and ultrastructural study

Abstract

Undue heat production in surgical bone drilling leads to osteonecrosis and can be an important cause of failure of osteosynthesis, impaired healing, and loosening of implants following orthopedic surgery. The present work aims to minimize heat production below the critical temperature for thermal osteonecrosis (i.e., 47°C) and obviate thermal bone damage due to drilling. A total of 20 samples from the shaft of the human femur were obtained at autopsies and drilling was performed at room temperature by an operation theater (OT) compatible rotary ultrasonic bone drilling (RUBD) machine. K‐type thermocouples were used to measure the temperature rise during drilling and the physical changes of the bone samples were observed by infrared gama camera. Light microscopic and transmission electron microscopic studies were performed to evaluate the bone cell damage. The maximum temperature recorded in RUBD (40.6 ± 1.3°C) was much below the critical temperature for thermal osteonecrosis (p < .05) at the rotational speed of 2000 rpm. Light microscopic and ultrastructural studies also revealed that there was no appreciable damage to the bone cells. Conventional bone drilling (CD) on the other hand recorded much higher temperature (66.6 ± 3.2°C), tissue burn and bone cell necrosis. Hence, RUBD machine has a potentiality for its use in orthopedic surgery and may provide better results.

Quantifying the Impact of Drilling Parameters on Temperature Elevation within Bone during the Process of Implant Site Preparation

“…It is crucial to emphasize the significance of reliable bone surgeries, especially in robot-assisted procedures [16][17][18][19][20]. This research highlights the potential of the proposed model in achieving precise temperature control during bone drilling, which could significantly contribute to the success and safety of such surgical interventions.…”

Effect of drill quality on biological damage in bone drilling

“…Some studies found a lower cutting force and an elevated temperature when vibrational plane cutting and orthogonal elliptical vibration-assisted cutting were used in bones 32 , 33 . Some recent studies evaluated the performance of UAD with regard to biological damage induced in the bone 34 . Drilling assisted by vibrations imposed on the drill was also found helpful for maintaining structural integrity of the bone 35 .…”