Harbin, China - 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^®"), have successfully completed one robot-assisted TKA recently in the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University. The surgery was performed by a team led by chief physician Yongyun Lian of the Department of Bone Surgery.

The patient was a special case with severe deformity of the femur and tibia, and extra-articular deformity of the femur accompanied by rotational deformities and bone defects. Traditional surgical methods could not accurately complete the positioning and osteotomy, and the surgical difficulty was quite high even for doctors with extensive surgical experience. However, Director Yongyun Lian's team successfully completed the surgery under the precise guidance of the personalized surgical plan and navigation & positioning function of the Honghu Orthopedic Surgical Robot. This not only shows the excellent surgical ability of Director Yongyun Lian's team, but also displays the compatible clinical configuration and exquisite technique of Honghu. As an effective solution for the treatment of various end-stage joint diseases, Honghu will meet more difficult challenges of surgeries and become an excellent partner for doctors to deal with difficult and complex surgeries.

A robot-assisted solution for performing difficult surgeries at one time

The patient was a 50-year-old male who had undergone orthopedic osteotomy many years ago. In the past six months, he had gone to the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University to seek further treatment due to limited knee joint activity and severe pain. After being examined by Director Yongyun Lian, he was found to have distal femur varus with rotation deformity, as well as bone defects of the medial and posterior condyle of the femur, and the valgus deformity of proximal tibia.

According to the conventional surgical method, this surgery should be divided into two stages: femoral valvaration and derotatory osteotomy in the first stage, followed by a medial closed wedge high tibial osteotomy for the correction of mechanical axis; and joint replacement in the second stage. However, the need for long rest periods between procedures is more traumatic for the patient. If the two surgeries are scheduled to be carried out at the same time, it will require special custom prostheses and other materials, which is expensive and difficult to operate, and the risk is high.

Since the patient had severe deformity of the femur and tibia, and extra-articular deformity of the femur accompanied by rotational deformities and bone defects, traditional surgical methods could not accurately complete the positioning and osteotomy. Even for doctors with extensive surgical experience, the difficulty is quite high, and there are problems such as soft tissue contracture and intraoperative knee joint flexion-extension gap imbalance.

After thorough communication with patients and their families, Director Yongyun Lian's team finally decided to adopt robot-assisted surgery, and Director Yongyun Lian personally made a surgical plan for the patient with Honghu preoperative planning software.

Before the surgery, the Honghu planning system can help the surgeon develop a personalized plan for prosthetic implantation based on the patient's CT scan data and prosthetic model data. During the surgery, the Honghu 3D navigation technology performed precise positioning, and the self-developed, highly dexterous and lightweight robot arm assisted the doctor  to quickly complete an osteotomy, improving the surgical accuracy and efficiency. The use of Honghu Orthopedic Surgical Robot has helped reduce anesthesia time, surgical materials, etc. for the entire operation. The patient's mechanical axis of lower limbs was significantly improved. Featured by less soft tissue injury, smaller surgical incision, reduced blood loss and improved safety, the surgery boosted the recovery pace of the patient.

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.