
For six months now, a robot has been helping surgeons with knee and hoof operations at the forchheim hospital. The forchheim endoprosthesis center is one of the first five locations in germany to implant prostheses with a computer-controlled robotic arm. Over 30 ops have already been leased in forchheim with the new "mako-system. Chief surgeon uwe lehmann is impressed by the new "surgical colleague robot convincing. "The mobility of our patients is significantly better and they are more satisfied with their life situation after the operation", explains lehmann. This was the result of a survey of 50 surgery patients in forchheim, in which one half was operated on with and one without robotic assistance.
Hospital is a pioneer
The forchheim hospital is thus a pioneer in the field of joint implantation. But the innovative technology is not cheap: the robotic arm costs around 1.5 million euros, and the hospital in forchheim bought the system from the american manufacturer "stryker" leased. The clinic goes into "advance performance, to be able to offer it to all forchheim patients, emphasizes clinic director sven oelkers. He believes that robot-assisted surgery is the way of the future. "We think this system could become standard in the future,".
How the "mako" works-robot: first, a special computer tomography (CT) of the joint to be operated on and a digital 3-D model are created. The data is used to manufacture the individual prosthesis. In the operating room, computer sensors constantly analyze the knee or hoof so that the ligaments can be optimally tensioned.