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PRODUCT NEWS
Navio gives surgeons robotic control via a handheld, computerassisted bone-cutting tool along with a navigation platform that presents a detailed virtual cutting guide. The system, built on an open
implant-architecture platform, supports multiple implant systems,
says the company.
The Navio handpiece lets surgeons precisely resurface bone based on a
predefined plan. Coupled with navigation tracking the real-time position
of the hand-piece and the patient, freehand sculpting removes only the
targeted bone while the robotics enforces a safety zone, says the company. And it does it all without a pre-op CT scan, instead using the limb's
natural landmarks to map the cutting parameters.
"The original robotic technology required a pre-op CT scan," says
Dr. Lonner. "With this system you do all the mapping and planning
based on intraoperative registration of landmarks of the limb. Our
research has shown that it is equally as precise as the CT-based technology with a considerable per-case savings."
Robotic systems have helped foster greater precision, but their price
tag has been a deterrent. "The predicate robotic system that was
released in 2006 cost about $1.2 million," says Dr. Lonner. At about
one-third of that price, the Navio "is much more affordable and far
more palatable for administrators and physicians."
Navio is simple for surgeons to master, says Dr. Lonner, who's used
the sculpting tool to perform cases at the Thomas Jefferson Riverview
Surgical Center in Philadelphia. "The mapping performed during surgery creates your parameters. And since it's a hands-on sculpting tool,
it's actually quite easy to use. There's not much of a learning curve —
maybe 5 or 10 cases," he says.
— Jim Burger
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O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | D E C E M B E R 2013
