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Orthopedic equipment designed for use in machining orthopedic materials into desired prostheses by performing mechanical operations such as drilling and cutting using computer-aided design and manufacturing (i.e., CAD/CAM) procedures. These machines usually consist of table-top or stand-alone equipment that includes a milling chamber with a rotating assembly (also known as spindle), associated detachable drilling devices (e.g., drill bits, end mills, burs), and a holder for the piece (e.g., ceramic block) that is being machined; the spindle movements are precisely controlled (e.g., to less than 25 microns). Some machines include robotic arms to perform the procedures. CAD/CAM orthopedic milling/drilling machines are digitally controlled directly or through a local area network (LAN) from a computer that includes appropriate software. Orthopedic milling/drilling machines may be used to manufacture prostheses, implants, and/or orthoses for many different applications (e.g., ankle-foot, maxilo-facial, and limb prostheses) using digital data from orthopedic digital scanning units.
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