Glenoid reaming is one of the most challenging milestones of the total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA) procedure. For a successful TSA, adequate bone resurfacing is required to ensure a well-conformed positioning of the implant onto the native bone.

In this study, a light-weight robot was employed to assert a prescribed thrust-force and reaming depth to mimic clinical practice. Reaming of bone-analogs indicated that specimen density had a linear relationship with reamer velocity and apparent machining stiffness. Human cadaveric bone studies confirmed a linear relationship between specimen density and reamer velocity in both subchondral and cancellous regions of the glenoid. A reaming operation mimicking version correction of glenoid was conducted in a position-controlled manner. A linear relationship was found between reamer-specimen contact surface and maximum reaming force. Findings of this study may be useful in simulator design and automation of this surgical procedure.