Mako’s Expanded Robotic Surgery Offering on Display at AAOS

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Mako Surgical Corporation will be exhibiting at the 80th annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) in Chicago this year, from March 20-23.

“Mako Surgical will highlight the Rio Robotic Arm Interactive Orthopedic System and Makoplasty treatment options for both total hip replacement and partial knee resurfacing, and we will have several distinguished orthopedic surgeons present their experiences during the meeting,” Maurice R. Ferré, M.D., Mako’s president and CEO, told Orthopedic Design & Technology. “We anticipate a busy AAOS meeting, as surgeons’ interest in utilization of robotic-arm assisted surgery continues to increase for hips and knees.”

Makoplasty total hip arthroscopy (THA) is the company’s latest application for its Rio system (pictured above left). The Rio system is designed to overcome the limitations of conventional arthroplasty surgeries by providing auditory, visual and tactile guidance to the surgeon’s hand. The aim is for total hip and partial knee surgeries to be consistent and reproducible. The company also claims that Rio could reduce complications associated with conventional hip replacement surgery.

“With total hip replacement using Mako robotic-arm assistance, I am a better surgeon because I perform 95 percent of my operations with the implants always in the correct position,” said Lawrence Dorr, M.D., clinical professor of orthopedics at Keck School of Medicine at University of Southern California in Los Angeles, Calif. “This is better than the Harvard data, which showed 47 percent of the implants in the correct position. Even in my own practice, the Mako robotic-arm assistance provides me with greater precision compared to when I perform the hip replacement using my experience only.”

Mako’s expertise is in robotic surgery, and the use of the Rio arm in hip replacements builds on the results of the Makoplasty partial knee resurfacing, which was developed to be a treatment option for pain caused by early to mid-stage osteoarthritis that has not yet spread to all three compartments of the knee. According to company-funded research, the use of the Rio system in Makoplasty partial knee resurfacing leads to implant component placement that is two to three times more accurate than manual techniques.

“For total hip replacement, use of the Rio System provides an advantage to surgeons by giving them the confidence that implants are in the correct position,” Ferré said to ODT. “This also alleviates stress, as they have the confidence that risk for impingement and its associated complications are minimized.”

“The Makoplasty procedure with the Rio system for THA and partial knee resurfacing not only improves accuracy and reproducibility in surgery, it improves my patients’ recovery,” said Robert C. Marchand, M.D., a partner at South County Orthopedics in Wakefield, R.I., and one of the presenters in Mako’s booth during the AAOS 2013 annual meeting. “With partial knee resurfacing for example, I am able to use the Rio system to create an anatomical model of the patient’s knee and develop a patient specific plan for optimal implant positioning based on the patient’s individual anatomy. The Rio provides feedback and guidance, thereby preventing me from removing bone form outside the specified plan, and it allows for accurate implant placement. Our patients recover more quickly compared to conventional techniques and their post-operative range of motion is improved as well.”

Editor’s note: for those interested in Mako’s robotic technology, the company will be exhibiting at booth number 212 during AAOS.

Photo courtesy of Mako Surgical.