Dentofacial skeletal anomalies have a severe impact on the harmony of the face and can lead to a number of functional problems. Resulting from congenital anomalies or development problems for example, dentofacial irregularities lead to misalignment of the teeth and to aberrance of the normal occlusion of the jaws and their relative position to each other and the skull base. Often these dentofacial deformities cannot be corrected by orthodontics alone, and a combined approach, based on orthodontic therapy and orthognathic surgery is the therapy of choice.

However, the clinical position accuracy of the current conventional system (non CAS) can be enhanced, because the surgeon is still moving the pieces manually. The mechanical holding device (the robot module) will allow free movability as well as locked configurations. Main objective of this project is to develop an intelligent robot assistant to support the surgeon during the fixation procedure of the bone segments in their planned position.

This project is being developed in cooperation between Heidelberg Medical University (MKG Department) and Karlsruhe Technical University (IPR) and funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).