Check into Mountain West Medical Center for a hip or partial knee replacement in the near future and your doctor’s assistant may not be human.
The local hospital recently joined the growing ranks of medical facilities that have purchased a “MAKO” — a specialized interactive robotic arm designed to assist surgeons during orthopedic operations.
Currently the MAKO at Mountain West, which cost about $1 million, is equipped to perform hip replacements and partial knee replacements and resurfacing, but it could do more in the future.
Though still an emerging technology, surgeon-controlled robotic technologies have grown in popularity in the medical field because they are often more precise than a set of human eyes and hands, said Dr. Jake Daynes, an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist with the Tooele Medical Group.
With operations like hip and knee replacements, where matching the patient’s unique anatomy is essential to the long-term success of artificial implants, that increased precision greatly reduces the likelihood that a medical procedure will fail.
An estimated 20 percent — or one in five — patients with knee replacements report after the procedure that they are unhappy with their implants, said Dr. John Douglas, an orthopedic surgeon at Mountain West Medical Center.
Similarly, other joint replacements can cause pain, or a decreased range of motion if not perfectly installed. More frequently, Douglas said, a mistake during the installation of an artificial joint will cause the implant to wear out early, before the estimated 20-year life of the joint.
Operating with a robotic arm reduces, if not completely eliminates, the potential for those kinds of mistakes, Douglas said. During an operation, the surgeon inputs images into the MAKO’s computer and, with the computer’s assistance, marks exactly where the implant is to be installed.
The surgeon then uses the MAKO’s robotic arm to remove diseased bone and tissue and install the artificial implant. The surgeon directs the robotic arm in a manner similar to a driver operating a car, but the MAKO is equipped with computerized aides and failsafes that help guide the surgeon to the exact location an incision or insertion is needed.
Then, when an implant is in its proper position, the MAKO automatically shuts off to prevent the surgeon from going too far, Douglas said.
Though expensive, Douglas said it pays for a small hospital to invest in performance-improving technology like the MAKO, because small mistakes come at a high cost in smaller, close-knit communities where reputation is subject to rumors that spread like wildfire.
“In a small town you walk a tightrope,” he said. “If [one in five patients] have a poor result in a small town, it travels like wildfire. You can get away with that in the big city, but you cannot get away with that in a small town.”