Patent US 9,345,552

A method of performing a minimally invasive procedure on a hip joint of a patient to relieve a femoral acetabular impingement. An access device is placed through skin of the patient to provide minimally invasive access to a target volume of material that creates the femoral acetabular impingement. A cutting accessory is placed into the access device to remove material and relieve the femoral acetabular impingement. A tracking and control system establishes a virtual boundary that defines the target volume of material that creates the femoral acetabular impingement, tracks a position of the cutting accessory relative to the virtual boundary, andcontrols movement of the cutting accessory so that cutting is substantially maintained within the virtual boundary.