Robotics and Virtual Reality enter the operating room at UPMC Salvator Mundi International Hospital
Robotics and Virtual Reality enter the operating room at UPMC Salvator Mundi International Hospital
Robotics and Virtual Reality enter the operating room at UPMC Salvator Mundi International Hospital. High-tech innovation for increasingly precision and less invasive surgery for prompt functional recovery.
Robotics and Virtual Reality take center stage
Robotics and Virtual Reality take center stage at UPMC Salvator Mundi International Hospital, scene of the first orthopedic surgery that combined the high-tech robotic platform “Mako-Stryker” with virtual reality and holograms from “Verima”.
The surgical team performed a robotic single-compartment lateral prosthesis surgery on the knee of a 74-year-old woman. The Mako surgical robot made it possible to computer design the type of implant then used in surgery, combining data collected from three-dimensional CT scans with intraoperative readings taken with an infrared camera system. The surgeon, who can also perform an advanced simulation of the surgery, results and possible risks taking into account the patient’s real anatomy, is thus able to place the prosthesis with absolute precision, sparing bone tissue and achieving perfect ligamentous balance.
This minimally invasive technique greatly reduces pain and postoperative recovery for the patient.
Brand new, integration with “Verima”
Brand new, integration with “Verima,” health imaging software, which through special Mixed and Virtual reality viewers and devices supporting Augmented Reality allows CT and MRI exams to be “transformed” into interactive 3D holograms. The surgeon can also interact with the anatomical hologram, which can be rotated, moved in space and enlarged, and “brought” close to the patient during the operation.
The Prof. John Vizzini
“In UPMC we focus a lot on technological innovation, such as precisely virtual reality, which, applied to the medical and hospital sector, has great potential. – This is how Prof. Giovanni Vizzini, Chief Operating Officer and Medical-Scientific Director of UPMC in Italy and Medical Director of UPMC Salvator Mundi International Hospital – This technology also has enormous advantages in terms of transparency in communication with the patient, because it allows for a clear and immediate understanding, what the doctor will do during surgery and what the post-surgery technical result will be. It represents a valuable support so that the right relationship is established between doctor and patient.”