Orthopedic X-Ray Robot

An engineer has developed a robot designed to follow and capture x-ray videos of patients with orthopedic injuries as they walk, climb stairs, stand up from a seated position, or perform other typical activities.

University of Florida (UF, Gainesville, USA) mechanical and aerospace engineer Dr. Scott Banks' aim is to supplement static images of patients' bones, muscles, and joints with an interior view of these and other body parts in action during normal physical activity. By combining such full-motion x-rays with computerized depictions, orthopedic surgeons will make better diagnoses, advise more appropriate treatments, and get a more concise idea of post-operative successes and failures, he said.

"Our goal is come up with a way to observe and measure how joints are moving when people are actually using them,” Dr. Banks said. "We think this will be tremendously powerful, not only for research but also in the clinical setting as well.”

Problems with orthopedic injuries are among the most common reasons people visit the doctor, according to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. Orthopedic surgeons have long diagnosed patients by touch or with static x-rays, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and computed tomography (CT) scans. They also may use x-ray video, but current technologies provide only a limited view of a very narrow range of motion in a laboratory setting.

Dr. Banks currently has one functional robot, which can shadow an individual's knee, shoulder, or other joint with its hand as the person moves. In its completed form, the hand will hold lightweight equipment capable of shooting x-rays, while another robot will hold the sensor that captures images of the body as moving videos. "And in the future,” said Dr. Banks, "we could put these robots on wheels and they could follow you around.”

Dr. Mike Moser, a UF orthopedic surgeon working with Dr. Banks on the project, reported he thinks the robot system would be very useful to surgeons. "The biggest thing that this technology could offer in treating orthopedic injuries is that it has the ability to visualize joint motion dynamically, as it changes. And I think it could be extrapolated to pretty much any orthopedic injury or condition.”