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Peninsula Private leads southern hemisphere with new spinal surgery technology

September 05, 2019

In a first for the southern hemisphere, surgeons at Peninsula Private Hospital are using a new robotic surgical system called ExcelsiusGPS.

The ExcelsiusGPS Robotic Navigation platform by Globus Medical is the first technology to combine a rigid robotic arm and full navigation capabilities for precise trajectory alignment in spine surgery. The system is designed to improve accuracy during spinal fusion procedures. 

Orthopaedic surgeon Dr John Choi said: “It provides additional protection when navigating around the spinal cord and has the most advanced capability among the commercially available robots.” 

The robot is a navigation device which allows accurate placement of spinal hardware, by continuously displaying surgical instruments and implants on a screen, for the surgeon and staff to monitor. 

Patient scans are taken on the day of surgery and uploaded to the device, which guides a robotic arm to a specific region of the spine.  

“It takes away the need for regular CT scans and X-rays during surgery, which reduces the radiation risk for all staff and patients. It actually makes the operating room safer,” Dr Choi said.  

Currently free-hand surgical techniques are 97 per cent accurate, however the robot increases the precision to 99.7 per cent. 

The technology is minimally invasive and has the potential to decrease blood loss and muscle damage in patients and it can lead to smaller scars. 

“It comes down to a few things: precision, accuracy and reproducibility in the outcomes, patient time in the operating room and reducing errors,” Dr Choi said. 

Peninsula Private Hospital received the technology after a two-year pursuit to deliver more robotic surgery at the facility. 

Already the robot has been used in 29 cases at Peninsula Private and staff are now involved in a study to compare the results against international data. 

“It is a personal milestone for me to bring this program to Australia.  Secondly, it is great to be involved in leading the innovation in this space to continue to develop our craft for patients,” Dr Choi said. 

The robot is available to all patients including adults and the elderly. It will be used during keyhole surgery and larger open surgery cases. 

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