thousand dollars to $1 million, depending on
features needed to match the complexity of
the procedures surgeon-users perform. That's
a significant investment, for sure, but the
improved accuracy afforded by the technolo-
gy can help prevent costly post-op complica-
tions, points out Dr. Good. He says minor
complications following lumbar spine surgery
might cost $8,000 to treat, and a major one
$30,000. Revision surgery, adds Dr. Good,
could cost between $10,000 and $30,000.
Surgeons who use the technology map out
the procedure and program it into the naviga-
tion system before they enter the OR. During
surgery, a robotic arm guides the surgeon
along different trajectories to intended sites
along the spine, where he works instruments
through the arm.
Dr. Good says robotic platforms with inte-
grated surgical navigation compare how the
actual surgery is progressing to the optimal
pre-op plan mapped out based on the
patient's specific anatomy. Surgical naviga-
tion technology also superimposes an image
of the implant in the exact spot the surgeon
had marked when setting the pre-op plan.
Those real-time images eliminate the need to
gradually maneuver an implant into place
while snapping several C-arm images to con-
firm the hardware is placed accurately. Dr.
M A R C H 2 0 1 9 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 4 1
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