Low-damage bone cutting using a newly developed rotary ultrasonic surgical handpiece

doi:10.1007/s40436-025-00576-7

Advances in Manufacturing ›› 2026, Vol. 14 ›› Issue (3): 697-710.doi: 10.1007/s40436-025-00576-7

Low-damage bone cutting using a newly developed rotary ultrasonic surgical handpiece

Xiao-Fei Song¹, Hai-Bo Jing¹, Pei-Yue Sun¹, Jia-Qi Zhao¹, Ling Yin²

1. Key Laboratory of Mechanism Theory and Equipment Design of Ministry of Education, School of Mechanical Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300354, People's Republic of China;
2. School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia

收稿日期:2024-06-24 修回日期:2024-08-19 接受日期:2025-08-20 出版日期:2026-07-23 发布日期:2025-11-14
通讯作者: Xiao-Fei Song,E-mail:xiaofeisong@tju.edu.cn;Ling Yin,E-mail:ling.yin@adelaide.edu.au E-mail:xiaofeisong@tju.edu.cn;ling.yin@adelaide.edu.au
基金资助:
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 52275457, 51875404).

Low-damage bone cutting using a newly developed rotary ultrasonic surgical handpiece

Xiao-Fei Song¹, Hai-Bo Jing¹, Pei-Yue Sun¹, Jia-Qi Zhao¹, Ling Yin²

1. Key Laboratory of Mechanism Theory and Equipment Design of Ministry of Education, School of Mechanical Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300354, People's Republic of China;
2. School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia

Received:2024-06-24 Revised:2024-08-19 Accepted:2025-08-20 Online:2026-07-23 Published:2025-11-14
Contact: Xiao-Fei Song,E-mail:xiaofeisong@tju.edu.cn;Ling Yin,E-mail:ling.yin@adelaide.edu.au E-mail:xiaofeisong@tju.edu.cn;ling.yin@adelaide.edu.au
Supported by:
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 52275457, 51875404).

摘要/Abstract

摘要： Bone cutting is a common procedure in surgery, during which conventional rotary cutting causes extensive damage to the bone while single ultrasonic cutting, as a newer tool, results in minimally invasive injury but has obviously low efficiency. This study aimed to achieve low-damage, high-efficiency bone cutting using a newly developed surgical rotary ultrasonic (RU) handpiece coupled with ultrasonic vibration and rotary cutting. To solve the clinical miniature size and power limits, a quarter-wave barbell ultrasonic horn with a mid-reduction structure was designed based on the vibration theory. It enhanced the vibration amplitude output by 22% compared with a common stepped horn. A new non-contact rotary transformer with “T+U” shaped cores was developed with a higher coupling coefficient of 0.95 and transmission efficiency of 94% compared with common industrial transformers. Handpiece performance was evaluated in terms of vibration responses and cutting characteristics during cortical bone cutting. The results demonstrated that the new tool had good vibration characteristics with the expected amplitude and frequency, even at a low power of approximately 1 W, which was less than 1/100 of that used in industrial RU tools. Compared with conventional rotary cutting, the new tool significantly reduced cutting forces by 32%-44% without losing cutting efficiency and diminished surface chipping damage in the bone, which was especially important for low-trauma surgery. This study advances the bone cutting processes for high-quality surgery by developing a new RU surgical tool.

The full text can be downloaded at https://doi.org/10.1007/s40436-025-00576-7

关键词: Bone cutting, Rotary ultrasonic (RU), Force, Damage, Power transfer

Abstract: Bone cutting is a common procedure in surgery, during which conventional rotary cutting causes extensive damage to the bone while single ultrasonic cutting, as a newer tool, results in minimally invasive injury but has obviously low efficiency. This study aimed to achieve low-damage, high-efficiency bone cutting using a newly developed surgical rotary ultrasonic (RU) handpiece coupled with ultrasonic vibration and rotary cutting. To solve the clinical miniature size and power limits, a quarter-wave barbell ultrasonic horn with a mid-reduction structure was designed based on the vibration theory. It enhanced the vibration amplitude output by 22% compared with a common stepped horn. A new non-contact rotary transformer with “T+U” shaped cores was developed with a higher coupling coefficient of 0.95 and transmission efficiency of 94% compared with common industrial transformers. Handpiece performance was evaluated in terms of vibration responses and cutting characteristics during cortical bone cutting. The results demonstrated that the new tool had good vibration characteristics with the expected amplitude and frequency, even at a low power of approximately 1 W, which was less than 1/100 of that used in industrial RU tools. Compared with conventional rotary cutting, the new tool significantly reduced cutting forces by 32%-44% without losing cutting efficiency and diminished surface chipping damage in the bone, which was especially important for low-trauma surgery. This study advances the bone cutting processes for high-quality surgery by developing a new RU surgical tool.

The full text can be downloaded at https://doi.org/10.1007/s40436-025-00576-7

Key words: Bone cutting, Rotary ultrasonic (RU), Force, Damage, Power transfer

Xiao-Fei Song, Hai-Bo Jing, Pei-Yue Sun, Jia-Qi Zhao, Ling Yin. Low-damage bone cutting using a newly developed rotary ultrasonic surgical handpiece[J]. Advances in Manufacturing, 2026, 14(3): 697-710.

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Low-damage bone cutting using a newly developed rotary ultrasonic surgical handpiece

Low-damage bone cutting using a newly developed rotary ultrasonic surgical handpiece

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