Yanjin, China --- The first case of robot-assisted total knee arthroplasty (TKA) has been successfully completed recently in Yanjin People's Hospital with Honghu Orthopedic Surgical Robot ("Honghu") independently developed by MicroPort NaviBot（Suzhou）Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Shanghai MicroPort MedBot (Group) Co., Ltd. Yanjin, known as "the narrowest county", is a key county receiving national assistance for rural revitalization. Honghu has crossed mountains and rivers before settling in Yanjin when Yanjin People's Hospital is listed as one of the MicroPort^® MedBot^® Multimeter Research Teams. With the completion of the surgery, MicroPort^® MedBot^® has truly achieved the hope of accessing the high-quality medical resources -- inclusive smart medical care -- to different levels of medical institutions, and improving the medical services in remote areas. The robot-assisted surgery technology is the trend of contemporary surgery. TKA exerts high technique requirements and is difficult to operate. But the surgery robot will help in the standardization, accuracy and efficiency of surgeries and help doctors to benefit more patients.

The 60-year-old male patient of the case reported that he had developed pain in his knees and joints 10 years ago. He had been treated with infusion, acupuncture and painkillers for many times, but the condition recurred continually. Three years ago, the pain became worsened, adding to the limitation of his activities. The patient suffered right knee varus deformity and was diagnosed as having developed bilateral knee osteoarthritis. After comprehensive analysis, the patient was recommended to receive TKA. After the patient and his family members agreed to the surgery, he became the first patient to receive an orthopedic robot-assisted surgery in Yanjin County.

With the close cooperation of Dean Xizong Zhou, Director Houjun Wang, Director Lunqiang Guo, Director Xiangxi Deng of Anesthesiology Department with other relevant functional departments of Yanjin People's Hospital and Professor Li Chuan of No. 920 Hospital, the "first show" of Honghu completed in Yanjin County People's Hospital, and the operation was very successful. Honghu has conducted CT 3D segmentation and reconstruction of the knee joints of patient. Compared with the traditional surgery, Honghu provides a more friendly experience of human-computer interaction (HCI), making it easier for operators to make personalized surgical solutions based on the patient's 3D bone model. Honghu HCI Platform guided the robotic arm registration and bone registration nimbly during the surgery, the robotic arms accurately moved to the preplanned position, assisted in the osteotomy of femur and tibia.    

Postoperative measurement shows that the actual osteotomy is completely consistent with the planned value. The patient recovered well after the operation. It can be seen in the full-length radiograph of the lower limb that the force line had been accurately restored, which proved the precise and efficient performance of Honghu.

Dean Xizong Zhou said that for TKA, any millimeter deviation of osteotomy will have a significant impact on the postoperative recovery of patients. To ensure the accuracy of osteotomy in traditional TKA, the surgical team need to spend more time in measuring and positioning. With the assistance of robot system, however, the navigation system and the robotic arm cooperate with each other, and the movement range of swing saw is limited to a predetermined safe range, thus improving the accuracy and safety of the whole operation. Yanjin People's Hospital has completed a complicated TKA of high difficulty and precision, and will continue to provide high-quality medical services to more patients in Yanjin County and its surrounding areas.