Orthopaedic Surgical Robots and its future in the field of Medical Science

Robotic Surgery is a breakthrough in the field of medical science, aiming to improve the accuracy and precision of surgical procedures. In case of orthopaedics, robots are mainly focused on increasing the precision of preparing bony surfaces, which cannot, otherwise, be achieved by human surgeons. Robots were first used for hip replacement and on successful execution of it, it was also used for knee arthroplasty. It has been observed that the use of orthopaedic surgical robots have improved primary stability and secondary bone integration demonstrating not only more reliable outcomes but also better accuracy and precision.

While some of the robotic systems use serial manipulators, few others use parallel manipulators. For cases with low nominal load per weight ratio, involving low stiffness and accuracy, the use of serial manipulators are usually observed. However in cases of high stiffness, to avoid positioning errors, parallel manipulators are preferred. Besides, a control architecture is used to track and determine the safety and accuracy of the procedure.

In spite of the promising future associated with orthopaedic surgical robots, most orthopaedic surgeons are not very keen on investing their time on training these robots. They are of the opinion that enough research on the efficacy and safety of the system has not been done and therefore, they are not certain whether putting efforts on it will be fruitful. Besides, the cost associated with research and implementation is so high that it seldom leaves anything for marketing which is of prime importance in this case. An absence of study on the long-term effects of using orthopaedic surgical robots is also one of the reasons which has been restricting the momentum that it had gained initially. Therefore, despite promoting better pre-planning and execution of surgery, research on the long-term effects and safety of the procedure besides reducing the cost associated with it, is of vital importance to widespread the use of this powerful invention.

Disclaimer: The information given in this write-up is purely for educating the reader. It is not meant to be a substitute for any advice from a medical expert.