US 12,458,422 B2
Smart surgical screwdriver
Philip J. Brown, Winston-Salem, NC (US); Andrea Morgan Rich, Winston-Salem, NC (US); and Aaron Ross Van Gorkom, Winston-Salem, NC (US)
Assigned to Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Winston-Salem, NC (US)
Filed by Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Winston-Salem, NC (US)
Filed on Dec. 11, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/534,992.
Application 18/534,992 is a continuation of application No. 16/339,400, granted, now 11,871,975, previously published as PCT/US2017/055276, filed on Oct. 5, 2017.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/404,579, filed on Oct. 5, 2016.
Prior Publication US 2024/0115304 A1, Apr. 11, 2024
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. A61B 17/88 (2006.01); A61B 17/16 (2006.01)
CPC A61B 17/8875 (2013.01) [A61B 17/1626 (2013.01); A61B 2560/0462 (2013.01); A61B 2560/0475 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for installing a fixator in a biological tissue with a surgical tool, wherein the surgical tool comprises a first sensor, a second sensor, a third sensor, the method comprising:
a) receiving measurements from the first, second, and third sensors of the surgical tool loaded with the fixator and calculating values of one or more torque parameters and one or more energy-rotation parameters, wherein the one or more torque parameters and one or more energy-rotation parameters comprise mean torque, mean rotational velocity, mean power, and total energy, based on the measurements,
b) generating values of Property I, wherein each Property I value is a sum of weighted values of the one or more torque parameters and one or more energy-rotation parameters,
c) generating a signal reflecting whether the Property I values fall outside one or more optimal ranges of Property I,
d) adjusting insertion operation of the surgical tool loaded with the fixator to change torque parameters and energy parameters associated with the insertion operations if the Property I values are outside the one or more optimal ranges, such that Property I values are within the one or more optimal ranges, and
g) repeating steps a)-d) until the installation is complete.