South Florida Baptist Hospital has added a second robot to its arsenal of technological advances in surgery. The new robot will help with knee resurfacing and hip replacements.
While a surgeon using the hospital's other robot for general surgery is seated at a console away from the operative table, a surgeon using the new robot will remain at the surgical site to do the procedure with robotic assistance. The robotic arms ensure exactness but still allows the surgeon to override and make corrections based on anatomic findings, if needed.
The new robot is known as the MAKOplasty Robotic Arm Interactive Orthopedic System.
“Accuracy is key in planning and performing both partial knee and total hip procedures,” said Dr. Scott Goldsmith, lead orthopedic surgeon at South Florida Baptist Hospital. “For a good outcome, you need to align and position the implants just right. RIO enables surgeons to personalize partial knee and total hip replacements to achieve optimal accuracy.”
Goldsmith, who has performed joint procedures at South Florida Baptist Hospital for the past eight years, calls MAKOplasty the next step of technology.
“We’ll be doing the exact same procedures, just in a more accurate way,” he said. “The robot will make it a more straightforward procedure.”
The difference is in the preoperative planning.
In advance of surgery, a CT scan is made of the hip or knee joint. The scan is reviewed in great detail, where it is mapped out to the patient’s exact anatomy and images of the implants are superimposed onto the joint.
“This adds a three-dimensional aspect to the preoperative planning that complements using the robot at the time of surgery, allowing the surgeon to place the implants precisely where we intend them to go,” Goldsmith said.
Orthopedic surgeons will begin using MAKOplasty total hip arthroplasty and MAKOplasty partial knee replacement in
February at South Florida Baptist Hospital. In the near future, this technology will be applied to total knee replacement.
“We are proud to be able to use this innovative technology in Plant City,” said Karen Kerr, president of South Florida Baptist Hospital. “It is part of our commitment to provide our community with the best possible healthcare.”