Lanzhou, China - On December 22, 2022, the Honghu Orthopedic Surgical Robot (hereinafter referred to as "Honghu"), developed independently by MicroPort NaviBot (Suzhou) Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Shanghai MicroPort MedBot (Group) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "MicroPort^® MedBot^®"), successfully completed its first TKA in Northwest China at Gansu Provincial People's Hospital. This not only breaks new ground in the robot-assisted knee arthroplasty of Gansu Provincial People's Hospital, but also creates a precedent for the domestic Honghu orthopedic robot to perform TKA in the entire northwest region, bringing good news to the vast number of patients in Northwest China who suffer from joint pain.

The surgery was completed by the team of Hongzhang Guo, director of the Fourth Ward of the Department of Orthopedics of Gansu Provincial People's Hospital. The good start of the first case has double significance for the progress of orthopedics treatment technology of the hospital and the implementation and promotion of the Honghu orthopedics robot in hospitals all over the country, which is another successful practice on the road of medical and industrial integration and innovation.

Patient information: 68-year-old female, suffering from bilateral knee pain and swelling, and aggravated knee joint movement restriction and deformity. She has been struggling to walk only with the support of two crutches in recent years. The patient went to the Gansu Provincial People's Hospital and was found to be treated only by TKA.

Preoperative preparation: Chief physician Hongzhang Guo's team performed 3D reconstruction of the knee joint CT image by Honghu, imported the patient's knee joint lesion CT data into the domestic Honghu joint replacement robot system, and made use of the system's powerful AI interaction design capability to create a surgical plan containing such details as surgical osteotomy, prosthesis size, specific location that were most suitable for her.

Surgical procedure: Honghu intelligent operation platform guided the robot arm registration and bone registration, where the robotic arm was precisely positioned to the positions as scheduled, and the integrated osteotomy tool assisted the surgeon in completing the osteotomy, thus realizing precise installation and placement of the prosthesis. The entire process was smooth and efficient, and the postoperative measurement showed that the actual resection volume was completely consistent with the planning before surgery.

Postoperative situation of the patient: There was no need to open the pulp during the surgery, so the patient had less bleeding, and the postoperative recovery was good. The video of the patient two hours after the surgery showed that the patient could walk alone with the crutch, the mechanical axis of the lower limb was significantly restored, the range of flexion-extension motion was significantly improved, and pain was obviously relieved compared with those before the surgery, which confirmed the accuracy and efficiency of the Honghu assisted surgery.

Surgical evaluation: With accurate osteotomy, prosthetic size and position, and perfect joint gap balance, director Hongzhang Guo successfully completed the patient's knee arthroplasty. As the new generation of bionic internal axial knee prosthesis of Honghu orthopedic robot is used, it has a movement trajectory closer to the physiological condition of the knee joint compared with the rear stable prosthesis widely used at present. Patients will be more satisfied with activities such as walking, going up and down stairs, and squatting.

1 The registered trademark of HongHu is named “Skywalker” in abroad , which is in the process of application in USA, completed registration in EU and other countries and regions.