Medical engineering & physics
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Minimally invasive surgery poses high demands on tool design. The goal was to measure the influence of drill bit geometry on maximum thrust forces required for drilling, and compare this relative to the known influence of feed rate and bone composition. Blind holes were drilled perpendicular to the iliac crest up to 10 mm depth in cadaveric pelvic bones of 20 pigs (adolescent) and 11 goats (full grown) with eight substantially different drill bits of ∅ 3-3.2 mm. ⋯ The results show that both drill bit geometry and feed rate have a significant influence on the maximum thrust forces, with a dominant influence of drill bit geometry in terms of shape of the flutes, sharpness of cutting edges and value of point angle. The differences in thrust forces between cortical and trabecular bone are substantial for all measured conditions. The measured values can be used for drill design.