Drilling tool, systems, and methods
A surgical tool comprises a dilator, a cutter, a retractable brush, and at least one retractable drill. The dilator is configured to dilate tissue of a patient and can be positioned in an undilated configuration or a dilated configuration. The cutter is configured to cut the tissue and is disposed at a distal end of the dilator. The cutter is configured to move between a cutting position when the dilator is in the undilated configuration and a non-cutting position when the dilator is in the dilated configuration. The retractable brush is configured to brush a surface of an anatomical element of the patient to remove matter from the surface. The at least one retractable drill is configured to drill into the anatomical element.
1 . A method for drilling into an anatomical element comprising:
cutting tissue of a patient using a cutter of a surgical tool;
dilating the tissue of the patient using a dilator of the surgical tool, the dilator having a plurality of arms, each arm having a free end, the plurality of arms moveable between an undilated position, in which the free ends are closer to each other to define a wedge-like configuration, and a dilated position in which the free ends are further from each other than in the undilated position, wherein the cutter of the surgical tool is attached to a free end of one arm of the plurality of arms of the dilator;
cleaning a surface of an anatomical element of the patient to remove matter from the surface using a brush of the surgical tool; and
drilling into the anatomical element with at least one drill of the surgical tool.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the method is performed automatically by a robotic arm holding the surgical tool.
3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising cutting a flat into the surface of the anatomical element using the at least one drill.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein dilating the tissue includes extending the brush adjacent the dilator to move the plurality of arms from the undilated position to the dilated position.
5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising automatically retracting the brush when the at least one drill is extended.
6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the dilator locks into the dilated position when the brush is automatically retracted.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein cleaning the surface of the anatomical element of the patient with the brush of the surgical tool comprises rotating the brush of the surgical tool.
8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising automatically moving the cutter between a cutting position and a non-cutting position based on the dilator being in the dilated or undilated position.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one drill comprises a first drill and a second drill, the second drill used after the first drill to drill into the anatomical element.
10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the second drill is disposed in a cannula of the first drill.