Bone grinding has cemented its applications in the various sorts of the neurosurgeries. Generally, a rotating burr is used to remove a part of the bone to expose the tumors present underneath the bone. The abrasion caused by the grinding wheel causes a rise in temperature owing to the generation of the heat during grinding and would have severe consequences with the initiation of thermogenesis. To bridge this gap, an in-house experimental setup was developed to perform multi-pass rotary ultrasonic neurosurgical bone grinding. Three functional characteristics, namely rotational speed, feed rate, and amplitude, have been investigated using Taguchi L18 orthogonal array design. The regression equations have been obtained and validated with confirmation experiments using a random set of machining parameters. Further, machining parameters are optimized using genetic algorithm and confirmatory trials are performed using optimized conditions. The results of statistical analysis (ANOVA) revealed that the feed rate is the most significant parameter influencing the change in temperature during osteotomy. Nevertheless, the standard deviation was most affected by rotational speed. Furthermore, a comparative analysis has been carried out for conventional and rotary ultrasonic neurosurgical grinding. A hybrid approach using cumulative equivalent minutes (CEM43°C) and Arrhenius model has been used to predict the thermal damage caused to the human body's tissues during bone grinding. The results obtained have been experimentally validated, and outcomes revealed that ultrasonically actuated grinding burr may prevent osteonecrosis and neural damage duly supported with infrared thermograms and graphical plots. Keywords Bone grinding • Ultrasonic • Genetic algorithm • Infrared thermography • CEM43°C • Arrhenius equations List of symbols Ω Tissue damage function A Pre-exponential factor (s −1) E a Arrhenius activation energy (J/mol) τ Time (s) R Universal gas constant (J/mol k) K Rate constant T Actual exposure temperature (°C) T break Breaking point temperature CEM43°C Cumulative number of equivalent minutes at 43 °C F Feed rate (mm/min) A Amplitude (µm) D Depth of cut (mm) ∆T Change in temperature (°C) σ Standard deviation CG Conventional grinding RUNG Rotary ultrasonic neurosurgical grinding