Robotic Spine Surgery

Robots have been with us for some time. In industry, they handle dangerous and repetitive work such as welding or lifting heavy parts — the Tesla automotive plants, for example, use a great many robots to speed production and lower costs. Robotic applications in healthcare, and especially in surgery, are more recent. Robots are increasingly used in surgery because they can bring greater precision to delicate procedures.

The DaVinci robot: an extension of the surgeon

Perhaps the best-known surgical robot is the DaVinci system, used to perform very delicate surgeries in the abdomen and pelvis. The robot is positioned over the patient, and the surgeon sits at a console controlling it remotely while viewing the work through specialized cameras inside the body. Because it works through very small incisions called portals, surgical trauma is minimized — meaning less pain and a faster recovery.

Importantly, the DaVinci is not automated. It does not operate independently like the robots in a Tesla plant or an Amazon warehouse; it is an extension of the surgeon's hands, controlled by the surgeon at all times.

How spine robots are different

The robots used in spine surgery are a hybrid: part independent (like a factory robot) and part surgeon-controlled (like the DaVinci). The spine robot is semi-autonomous — it can carry out certain pre-determined instructions and then act as an extension of the surgeon's hands.

Spine surgery often involves placing specialized instruments and implants into the spine while avoiding injury to the spine and the nerves within it. Some of these implants support the spine and require very precise placement. Here's how the robot helps:

• Detailed images of the spine from a CT scan are fed into the robot.
• Using those images as a guide, the robot navigates around the spine to find the best path to place the instrumentation — acting semi-autonomously, based on the surgeon's programmed plan.
• Once the best route is found, the robot becomes a guide. The surgeon uses it to place a small portal in the skin above the spine and to position the instrumentation — here acting as an extension of the surgeon, like the DaVinci.

The benefits today

• Shorter surgery, because the robot can find the best, quickest path to place instrumentation.
• Smaller incisions and less post-operative pain, because the surgeon can work through very small incisions.

Looking ahead

This is only the beginning. In the future, we can envision spine surgery performed largely by robots following a surgical plan created by the surgeon — with significant benefits for patients: faster surgery, better precision, less surgical trauma, and a quicker recovery.