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procedures within the next decade. "The analogy is a driverless
car," he says. "Car manufacturers have slowly added incremental
driverless features, such as self-parking, going-out-of-lane
warnings and back-up cameras. The advances will eventually
lead to the development of a truly driverless car."
Those types of features will be added to robotic systems over
the next 5 to 10 years, according to Dr. Schabowsky. That means
surgeons will be involved with preoperative planning and super-
vising robots during surgery, but the robots will be able to do the
surgery entirely on their own. — Brielle Gregory
forward-thinking peers and increased demand from patients who want
their procedures performed in facilities that have invested in the tech-
nology. "If you want to stay competitive in spine," says Dr.
Vanichkachorn, "you need to use robotics at your facility."
Budget-friendly bots
The issue isn't whether or not surgeons are on board with robotic-
assisted surgery; it's whether their facilities can afford it. So the ques-
tion becomes: How do they convince their hospital or ASC to invest in
the technology?
Leadership at St. Cloud Orthopedics didn't think they could afford to
add a robotic-arm surgical platform for use during knee and hip
replacements. They were right. Turns out they could afford two.
The facility's general partner analyzed the expected growth of joint
replacement business and how many cases the practice could add
through marketing the robot. That analysis eventually gave the facility
the green light on the purchase. The practice's return on investment
was better than anticipated because St. Cloud's surgeons were early
adopters of the technology. "Patient demand was there and grew, and