Computer-aided navigation for arthroscopic hip surgery using encoder linkages for position tracking.

While arthroscopic surgery has many advantages over traditional surgery, this minimally invasive surgical technique is not often applied to the hip joint. There are two main reasons for this: the difficulties of navigating within the joint and of correctly placing portal incisions without damaging critical neurovascular structures. This paper proposes a computer-aided navigation system to address the challenges of arthroscopic hip surgery. Unlike conventional arthroscopic methods, this system uses encoder linkages to track surgical instruments, thus eliminating the problems associated with standard tracking systems. The encoder position information is used to generate a computer display of patient anatomy to supplement the restricted view from a typical arthroscopic camera.