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Miniature Hexapods in Spinal Surgery
A miniature, high precision hexapod with 6 DOF is used as guidance assistance for spinal surgery. The bone-mounted system, named SpineAssist, will accurately guide the surgeon for maximized precision when placing implants destined to stabilize spinal (vertebrae) fusions in both open and minimally invasive surgery. A part from the miniature hexapod robot, the system also consists of preoperative planning software with automatic fluoroscopic and CT image processing and a set of rigid bone fixation clamps and platforms.
The inventor of the SpineAssist system and surgical procedure, Mazor Surgical Technologies, was established in 2001 as a spin-off of the mechanical department of the Israel Institute of Technology. The company’s offices are located in Caesarea, Israel and Norcross, GA, USA (Mazor Surgical Technologies Inc.).
Mazor specializes in development of medical robots whereas the precision mechanics manufacturing is outsourced to the Swiss based Faulhaber Group company, MPS Micro Precision Systems AG.
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