Providence St. Jude Medical Center is using a robotics platform developed by Globus Medical to transform a five-day hospital procedure into an overnight process, reducing stress on patients and improving clinical outcomes.
Providence St. Jude Medical Center is using an innovative robotics platform with real-time, 3D imaging software to transform once-complicated back surgeries into minimally invasive procedures.
The Fullerton, California-based hospital is using Globus Medical's ExcelsiusGPS Premier Center platform for the delicate surgeries. The platform copies a surgeon's hand movements so that a robot can perform the procedure, including placing screws along the spine.
“Spine surgery often involves challenging anatomy and very difficult trajectories,” Erick Westbroek, MD, a Stanford-trained neurosurgeon who completed his fellowship in complex spine surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital before joining Providence St. Jude, said in a press release. “The robot’s 3D modeling and image guidance capabilities design the ideal trajectory, moving us as close to perfect accuracy as possible.”
The process enables patients who used to spend 4-5 days in the hospital to be discharged the next day. It also significantly reduces the number of x-rays needed prior to surgery, reducing radiation exposure, allows surgeons to maneuver around muscles along the spine rather than cut through them, and replaces the typical 15-inch scar on a patient's back to a few small incisions.
“Eliminating the need to remove or cut through the muscles along the spine is a game-changer in terms of pain and recovery,” says Bowen Jiang, MD, medical director of the St. Jude Neuroscience Institute, in the press release. “We’re leveraging technology and expertise to create extraordinary outcomes for patients.”
As a result, according to the press release, "some patients are back at the grocery store before conventional back surgery patients have left the hospital."
Hospital officials say the platform can be used to treat degenerative diseases, herniated discs, stenosis, scoliosis, nerve compression, and spinal tumors. And with this technology, Providence St. Jude Medical Center has become one of a handful of sites across the country to be classified as an observation and training site for robot-assisted spine surgery.
Eric Wicklund is the associate content manager and senior editor for Innovation, Technology, and Pharma for HealthLeaders.