Concept: British medical equipment company Smith+Nephew (SN) has rolled out CORI, a handheld robotic system for both total and partial knee arthroplasties. The new system allows the surgeons to measure, plan, and perform a knee surgery that is personalized to the patient’s anatomy. The company claims that the new robotic system augments the orthopedic team’s skills to enhance the accuracy and outcomes of knee surgery.
Nature of Disruption: SN claims that the new robotic system is compact and fully mobile that incorporates a 3D intra-operative imaging system with an advanced robotic sculpting tool. Surgeons can use a pointer tool to highlight the bone surface that needs to be removed. Next, they can leverage a handheld cutting tool that has a robotic feature that automatically halts the spinning of the tool’s burr when it’s outside the painted area. It requires minimal setup time and can be moved across different operation theaters to optimize the flow of patients through surgical units. SN’s system enables the patient to have a knee replacement that can be shape-matched and aligned to the patient’s specific anatomy. The robotic system does not require CT and pre-op imaging and has the potential to improve both implant placement accuracy and operational efficiency.
Outlook: Robotic-assisted orthopedic surgery is gaining traction across the globe. It is claimed to have various benefits including improved patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), shortened length of hospital stays, and an earlier return to an active lifestyle for the patients. SN is introducing CORI in different geographies including Europe, Australia, New Zealand, India, and Canada. The company aims to introduce new applications for CORI robotics platform including orthopedic pathologies.
This article was originally published in Verdict.co.uk