In two to three years, the use of robots in surgeries by hospitals in India will increase, said senior orthopedicians, adding that robotic arms will avoid intra-operative complications during knee and hip replacement and help in better placement of implants, thereby ensuring faster recovery.
Addressing a press conference on the sidelines of the fifth Arthroplasty Arthroscopy Summit hosted by Apollo Hospitals under the aegis of Telangana Orthopaedic Surgeon’s Association and Twin Cities Orthopaedic Society on Sunday here, Mithin Aachi, senior ortho and joint replacement surgeon, said though they performed thousands of surgeries, there could be 0.01% chance of human error where surgeons could injure arteries and/or ligaments.
The use of robotics in performing knee and hip replacement, its cost effectiveness and other aspects were discussed during the summit attended by nearly 125 orthopaedic surgeons.
Dr Mithin said robotic arms do not perform surgeries but assist doctors in planning and executing the procedures.
A CT scan helps figure out the deformity in knee, thickness of bone cuts required and the size of implant that needs to be placed. That information is fed into the software of the robotic arm. A camera helps in understanding the position of knee by markers placed in the bone. Once the 3D position of knee is determined by the robot, it helps in achieving bone cuts to perfection by aligning robot arm in the correct plane as the surgeon starts to cut bone.
Another senior ortho and joint replacement surgeon, N. Somashekar Reddy said robotic arms cost anywhere between ₹10 crore and ₹15 crore and the cost may be transferred to patients, making the surgeries expensive. However, he said as use of robots in the surgeries increase, the cost of operation will come down.