Computer-assisted orthopedic surgery

Computer-assisted orthopedic surgery (CAOS) represents one of the most effective means of treatment in clinical orthopedics and, in general, in the treatment of different kinds of musculoskeletal diseases. In fact, the CAOS approach aims at optimizing the surgical process by enhancing the available information with quantitative data, measurements, and estimations during the execution of procedures, so as to enhance the overall surgery-related accuracy, improve the clinical outcomes, and reduce the invasiveness of the surgery itself. In order to achieve this goal, CAOS exploits and integrates a large number of technologies and methodologies, including robotics, tracking devices, clinical images, and modeling. A “biomechanically enhanced” surgery, based on CAOS solutions, may indeed obtain optimal outcomes in a “patient-specific” perspective. This chapter discusses the most relevant details about CAOS systems in terms of general workflow, designs, technologies, methodologies, and applications, with concise hints on the latest advances made by the integration of several concepts borrowed from the musculoskeletal biomechanics within the CAOS workflow.