SEATTLE — UW Medicine is applying the latest robotic technology to delicate surgeries.
University of Wisconsin Medicine announced Monday that one of its doctors is using new technology when performing surgeries.
Dr. Richard Bransford, an orthopedic surgeon in Medicine, Wisconsin, uses robotic-assisted equipment to perform spine and back surgeries.
“We’ve been using navigation and spine surgery for a while, and what we can do with robots is find that angle very precisely and navigate to that angle,” Bransford said. . “The robotic arm tells you where to place the screws to some degree. Research suggests that the robotic arm is a more precise and therefore more effective tool.”
In a recent surgery, Bransford used this technique on a patient being treated for degenerative disc disease.
“With the navigation attached, you can make a percutaneous (small) incision, so you don’t have to have a large, extensive exposure[to the spinal structures],” Bransford added.
This technology also reduces tissue trauma and pain that patients may experience and speeds recovery time.
UW Medicine plans to consider how this technology can be used in other areas of medicine and train others to use it.
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