Modeling of temperature in orthopaedic drilling using fuzzy logic

Bone drilling is a common procedure to produce hole for screw insertion to fixate the fracture devices and implants during orthopaedic surgery. A major problem which is encountered during such a procedure is the increase in temperature of the bone due to the plastic deformation of chips and the friction between the bone and drill. This increase in temperature can result in thermal osteonecrosis which may delay healing or reduce the stability and strength of the fixation. In the present work, prediction of temperature in drilling of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) (as a substitute for bone) is carried out using fuzzy logic. The effectiveness of the fuzzy model is compared with the experimental results. Good agreement is observed between the predictive model values and experimental values which indicates that that the developed model can be effectively used to determine the temperature in the bone drilling.