The term robot was first used by the Czech playwright Karel Capek in 1921 in his play Rossom’s Universal Robots. Derived from the Czech word robota it means forced labor, which technically is what a robot does when you think about it. Robotics has come a long way since the 1920s, and they are able to perform complex tasks without making mistakes repeatedly in a variety of industries. However, in medicine robotics is used as an extension of the surgeon’s fingers allowing him or her to perform procedures that are minimally invasive. Another benefit of robotics in medicine is they provide greater accuracy when performing delicate surgeries such as on the spine or brain.
The Mazor Robotics Renaissance Guidance System is a device designed for patients with significant spinal deformities in which normal spinal anatomic landmarks are hard to find. This robotic guiding system allows surgeons to improve their accuracy and the placement of pedicle screws.
The observation for this study was made by Dr. Isador Lieberman of the Texas Back Institute and the 101 consecutive cases in which the Renaissance Guidance System was used. Of the 101 patients, 90 percent had severe deformity and/or surgeries that failed to correct previous spine conditions. According to the observations, the system provided a 98.9 percent rate of implant accuracy.
The Renaissance Robotic Spine Surgery first creates a preoperative blueprint to determine the best option for each patient in a virtual 3-D environment. The surgeon then places the rigid attachment to the patient to make sure the designed blueprint is followed with maximum accuracy. Synchronization of the mounting system with the surgical blueprint is automatically achieved with two fluoroscopy images of the unique fiducial array. The tools used for the implants are guided to the plant location with an accuracy of 1 mm.
So far the system has been used in over 15,000 implants with no cases of permanent nerve damage. It provides a wide range of clinical applications including: Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS), percutaneous posterior thoracolumbar approaches, Scoliosis and other complex spinal deformities, osteotomies and biopsies.
Extreme curvature of the spine with severe deformities has been a challenge for surgeons. In the past, multiple surgeries were performed on top of each other resulting in different types of injuries to the patient. Renaissance will give surgeons a more accurate representation of the normal spine so they can place the necessary implants where they should be placed. This will result in fewer nerve damage and better prognosis for correcting deformation of the spine.
Edited by
Brooke Neuman
