A Study of Heat Generation in Orthopaedic Bone Drilling Process

Reconstruction and repair of a complete bone fracture requires surgical drilling of bone in order to create holes which support easy insertion of screws. The objective of the research is to optimize kinematic parameters when drilling bone in order to avoid bone necrosis and increase the capacity of bones to retain the surgical screws. In literature there are presented attempts to measure the temperature of bones by introducing thermocouples into bone near the drill path which is not a satisfactory method. In this research it is proposed a new method for measuring temperature by means of a digital infrared thermometer oriented on bone surface where holes are made. We have drilled animal bones and represented the experimental curves of temperature for a wide range of kinematic parameters that are supposed to be used during orthopaedic operations. It is concluded speeds ranges that can be used when drilling bone holes, which ensures good cutting conditions and temperatures at a level which does not affect the quality of the assembly.