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26.02.2019 09:16:30
At the University Clinic for Orthopedics in Innsbruck, for the first time in Austria, a knee joint prosthesis has been implanted by means of a robot. According to the clinic, the advantage of this technique is that you can remove the exact amount of bone material in the right area. The 80-year-old patient underwent the intervention “perfectly well”.
When the knee or hip joint is too much destroyed (most often because of arthrosis), it is necessary to replace it with an artificial implant. “When replacing damaged parts of the body with implants, the so-called endoprosthetics, two things are important for the success of the surgery,” explains Michael Nogler, Professor of experimental orthopedics. “They are how accurately I will remove the damaged parts of the body, in this case the knee joint, and how precisely the new artificial joint will fit in.”
The damaged joint has to be removed by means of a bone milling cutter or a saw, whereas the matter is millimetre accuracy. And it is at this point that the robot comes into play. “It guides my hand,” explains Dr. Michael Liebensteiner. “But it saws only if I click on the start button.” Thus, the surgeon retains “complete control” of the robotic surgical system. This technique makes it possible to perform very elaborate work with one millimetre accuracy. In addition, through the camera, you can double-check the exact location of the prosthesis.
In the future, the robotic system will be used to implant artificial knee and hip joints. The prosthesis is to withstand heavy loads, and the more precisely it will be individually adapted, the less pain it will cause. In addition, wear will be less. It is in achieving high accuracy that the robot will assist.
