Technology
Central Queenslanders undergoing partial or total knee replacement or total hip replacement no longer need to travel to South East Queensland to access robotic-assisted surgery.
Hillcrest Rockhampton Private Hospital has a two-million-dollar Mako orthopaedic robotic system designed to assist surgeons, with data collected before and during surgery including CT-based 3D planning to help enhance pre-operative planning.
During the procedure, the surgeon can make adjustments to the pre-plan if required, based on insights gained using the technology during surgery. The surgeon uses the Mako robotic-arm to execute the bony cuts with precision. 1, 2, 3
While not all orthopaedic surgeries at Hillcrest will utilise this robot, the technology adds to Hillcrest’s suite of surgical options for orthopaedic patients, ensuring Central Queenslanders have access to a range of treatments to suit their needs.
Surgeons who utilise this technology are required to go through specialist training. No additional technology fees are payable by patients.
- Anthony I, Bell SW, Blyth M, Jones B et al. Improved accuracy of component positioning with robotic-assisted unicompartmental knee arthroplasty. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2016;98-A(8):627-35.
- Domb, B.G., El Bitar, Y.F., Sadik, A.Y., Stake, C.E. and Botser, I.B., 2014. Comparison of robotic-assisted and conventional acetabular cup placement in THA: a matched-pair controlled study. Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research®, 472(1), pp.329-336.
- Hampp, E.L., Chughtai, M., Scholl, L.Y., Sodhi, N., Bhowmik-Stoker, M., Jacofsky, D.J. and Mont, M.A., 2019. Robotic-arm assisted total knee arthroplasty demonstrated greater accuracy and precision to plan compared with manual techniques. The journal of knee surgery, 32(03), pp.239-250.
