Development of bone chip-vacuum system in orthopedic drilling process

Overheating occurs during the bone drilling process using drill bits in orthopedic surgery. The temperatures frequently exceed 47 degrees C, usually accepted as critical value, since the bones and surrounding tissues burn and then cause the necrosis during the drilling process. To prevent this, orthopedic surgeons either spray coolants to the drilling zone or pause the drilling process until the bones and tissues cool down. Such heat damage in bones and soft tissues is undesirable event for surgeons. The bone chips, sometimes, are also complicating the bone fracture fixations. In this study, an investigation is described the effects of the processing parameters on bone chip formations, temperature levels and chip-vacuuming performances during drilling. The temperature levels are also measured using thermocouple devices. A bone chip collecting system is developed as a specific device to collect the chips or fragments using vacuuming technique. The collected bone chips are stored in a pot (reservoir) and delivered to a reparative site in case of necessary. Some design parameters for the developed vacuum system are identified considering the temperature rise during the drilling process. Analyzing the effects of these parameters on chip formation and developed vacuum system statistically and some results are presented. At the end of the study, the bone chip-vacuum device was developed and performed successfully to collect the whole fragments in the bone drilling experimental tests. The chip-collecting device was also useful to remove overheat from the drilling zone. The optimal level of the processing parameters was calculated as A1B3C1 for both vacuumed and non-vacuumed conditions. The fractured powder-type chips were formed as anticipated using the cortical structure of diaphyseal part of calf bone which is helpful for chip vacuuming device.