W
hat if your surgeons had the abil-
ity to perform the perfect knee
replacement, limiting against soft
tissue damage and ensuring they
had the right bone cut every
time? That's the hope of the latest robotic systems
that increasing numbers of orthopedic surgeons are
using for total and partial knee replacements.
Surgeons who rely on robotic assistance love to
share why they love the technology, and how
patients and facilities are benefiting from it.
"A knee can be replaced without a robot, but the
technology prevents outliers," says Brian Patrick
Flanagan, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at
Northwestern Medicine Huntley (Ill.) Hospital.
"Those rare cases where ligaments are too tight or
implants aren't aligned, or a muscle gets injured
because the saw slips out of the bone — that's all
prevented with the robot."
More manufacturers are creating robotic ortho-
pedic systems, and each have different capabilities
and work with different implants, says Yair
D. Kissin, MD, FAAOS, vice chairman of the depart-
ment of orthopedic surgery at Hackensack (N.J.)
University Medical Center. Haptic systems, which
were the first robots available to orthopedic sur-
geons for knee replacement procedures, use 3D
models of patients' specific joint anatomy that are
created from pre-op CT scans. The systems feature
a robotic arm with an attached saw that provides
feedback to surgeons as they cut, ensuring the saw
doesn't leave the intended path.
Dr. Flanagan says his haptic robotic system
ensures he's getting the right cut and placement of
the implant each time, allowing him to shift the
implant placement a tenth of a millimeter at a time,
1 4 • O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 0
Robotic Assistance Improves Knee Replacements
Perfect cuts and precise implant placement
can take your total joints program to the next level.
Kendal Gapinski | Contributing Editor
READY TO REPLACE Brian Patrick Flanagan, MD, prepares his robot to perform a knee replacement at Northwestern Medicine Huntley (Ill.) Hospital. He's one of the first surgeons in the
area to use the robot for both partial and total knee replacements.
Northwestern
Medicine
