Shanghai, China — On September 20, a team led by Huiwu Li, Chief Physician of Orthopedic Department of the Ninth People’s Hospital of Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, successfully completed a case of right total hip arthroplasty (THA), with the assistance of SkyWalker™ Orthopedic Joint Replacement Surgery Navigation System (the “SkyWalker™ Hip and Knee Joint Replacement Robot”). This is the first THA case completed by SkyWalker™ Hip and Knee Joint Replacement Robot after it was approved for marketing by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) on September 15. The SkyWalker™ Hip and Knee Joint Replacement Robot enables the compatibility with total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and total hip arthroplasty (THA), and now achieves total clinical applications. As a new breakthrough, it could now serve as a smart assistant for the orthopedists and address the clinical needs for precise, individualized, and functional artificial joint replacement in different scenarios, and ultimately achieve more efficient and accurate surgeries to further benefit the patients.

The patient was admitted due to the painful right hip. Comprehensive physical examination and imaging examination revealed lesions in the patient’s hip, which produced severe impact on the function of the hip and the loading balance of both lower limbs. To significantly improve the hip function and relieve pains for the patient, the team led by Chief Huiwu Li, after discussion and analysis, decided to perform right total hip arthroplasty for the patient.

SkyWalker™ Hip and Knee Joint Replacement Robot features multiple technological advantages such as precise operation, efficient collaboration, safety protection and high compatibility. Before surgery, the team led by Chief Huiwu Li used the lower limb CT scan of the patient for 3D reconstruction and accurate measurement of hip data to conduct sizing of prosthesis at acetabular and femoral sides. Particularly, they made careful plan and design to develop an individualized prosthesis implant scheme, which fully considered the critical parameters in the hip arthroplasty, such as the insertion angle and depth of the prosthesis at acetabular side, as well as the lower limb length.

During surgery, SkyWalker™ Hip and Knee Joint Replacement Robot guaranteed the safe operation of the surgery through real-time path planning and motion trajectory monitoring. Based on the precise positioning of the surgical planning and by using of intelligent navigation system, the highly flexible and light-weighted self-developed robotic arm of the SkyWalker™ Hip and Knee Joint Replacement Robot was positioned accurately at the place as planned for one-step “millimeter level” precise acetabular grinding, maximizing the preservation of acetabular bone mass and avoiding unnecessary bone loss caused by excessive manual grinding. In the meantime, the proximal end of the femur was processed, the medullary cavity was expanded with a file, and the prosthesis was then implanted according to the angle and limited depth planned preoperatively. Fluoroscopy confirmed that the sizing and positioning of the prosthesis were appropriate. Eventually, the surgical expectations were satisfied, and the performance of the pre-op surgical plan was accurate and precise.

Postoperative follow-up showed that the actual insertion angle of the prosthesis and lower limb length were highly consistent with that planned preoperatively, truly achieving high efficiency and accuracy. On this basis, targeted rehabilitation training was provided for patients to help recover quickly.

Chief Huiwu Li stated that, the SkyWalker™ Hip and Knee Joint Replacement Robot could accurately implement pre-operative design, intra-operative planning and prosthesis implant. Whether for TKA or THA, the SkyWalker™ Hip and Knee Joint Replacement Robot could accurately perform the preoperative planning by the physician during surgery and complete multiple surgical auxiliary operations at a higher level. In the clinical practice, it was found that the smart assistance system could prevent damage caused by traditional intraosseous positioning, lower the risk of dislocation or surgical failure caused by poor placement of the acetabular cup, reduce surgical complications, and help patients recover quickly after surgery. In addition, as the devices for hip joint grinding, cup insertion, and knee joint osteotomy are basically the same as that used in the traditional surgery, it could greatly reduce the learning curve of the physicians, facilitating faster proficiency.

Mr. Yu Liu, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of the MicroPort^® MedBot^™, stated that, the SkyWalker™ Hip and Knee Joint Replacement Robot is already approved by NMPA, fully realizing the integration of hip and knee arthroplasty. It features the advantages of flexible and stable operation of the robotic arm, precise and fast positioning of the navigation system, and minimal error in osteotomy accuracy, which enables the physicians to perform surgery safer and insert the prosthesis more accurately. It helps to narrow the gap in surgical outcomes among physicians with different experiences and seniority, which promotes a step closer to homogenization and standardization of orthopedic diagnosis and treatment, and also benefits the physicians and patients worldwide, ultimately achieving the goal of “Make Surgery Easier, Safer and Less Invasive.”