A special spine orthopedic operation was successfully completed Tuesday at Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, marking the first operation in the country under the assistance of a pathfinder robot. Due to the complex structure, spinal surgery is a more difficult and risky procedure in surgery.
The 35-cm-long and 3.5-cm-wide handheld pathfinder robot is actually a miniature surgical navigation device.
Though small in size, it can replace large equipment to complete complicated work.
In spine surgery, doctors often need to implant dozens of nails on the spine. How to avoid hitting the spine? The traditional surgical method is the use of navigation equipment imaging, which helps doctors determine the location of the implant through a long period of time and poor image quality.
This new type of pathfinder robot uses the difference in bone mineral density between different bones to determine the distance, thereby giving different warning sounds to indicate the depth and position and help the doctor to complete the surgery.
The use of pathfinder robots in surgery can save 15% of the operating time, reduce the risk of doctors and patients exposed to radiation, and the average cost of each case can also be reduced by 10,000 yuan.
(Source: Jiangsu International Channel)
