Development of a new external fixator system for automated bone fixation: Theory and implementation

In the field of orthopedics, external fixators are widely used for treatment of extremity deformities. However, the adjustment of such a system is usually done by hand based on the experience of the clinician. Computer-assisted systems exist where treatment is planned with a software after processing radiological images. Such system takes some radiological and clinical data as input and calculates the configuration of the external fixator that will align the bone fragments to their anatomical axes. Yet, existing computer-assisted systems have various limitations and constraints. In this study, a new automatized system and an associated graphical user interface have been developed, that will minimize the human intervention and the related error, simplify the utilization of the external fixators and improve the quality of the service. In particular, methods have been proposed to complete the bone images blocked by the parts of the fixators and to automatically locate the fixator rings on the image. Furthermore, a new fixator that can be configured to different settings and its mathematical theory have also been presented in this work. The potential use and advantages of this new design are described in detail.