Enter the robot. The robotic equipment software uses the information generated by the scan to create a personalized preoperative plan for the operation. With the surgical plan, the surgeon uses the robotic arm to insert each end of the artificial hip joint exactly where it belongs to maximize anatomical function. The robot moves within a predefined area, minimizing the possibility of surgical deviations from the preprogrammed plan, while allowing the surgeon to make adjustments during the operation if necessary.
“As soon as the robot comes into the field, it acts as a navigator and copilot,” said Dr. Seas. “The surgeon is still in command, but has less tissue to expose and is safer because the robot knows exactly where the cutting instruments are and where the limits of the safe cutting zones are.”
If the surgeon drifts out of the safety zone, the robot issues an alarm that is comparable to the lane departure warning in modern cars and switches off. In this way, Dr. Seas: “The robot minimizes the risk of accidental damage to the bone or the surrounding tissue.” It also relieves the surgeon when dealing with complex cases.
A key factor in a successful hip replacement is making sure the leg attached to the new hip matches the length of the other leg. It is reported that robotic surgery is five times more accurate than conventional surgery in adjusting leg length. It is also better to insert the new hip joint at the correct angle.
Before the surgical wound is closed, the surgeon can determine that the joint is properly aligned and the leg lengths are even, resulting in a more stable joint.
Robotic surgery “is where things go,” said Dr. Douglas B. Unis, orthopedic surgeon at Mount Sinai Icahn School of Medicine. “It reconstructs the patient’s anatomy more precisely and leads to better mechanical function. Standard implants and the carpentry tools used for bone preparation are not good business or clinical models. It will be more economical and practical to design bespoke implants, ”he said, than adapting the patient’s bones to an existing implant.
Not only the surgical techniques for hip replacements have been improved. This also applies to anesthesia, which today is typically based on a combination of treatments like a regional spinal block and a peripheral nerve block, as well as a pain relief cocktail that is injected directly into the local wound, said Dr. Seas.
