Ask Colleen Shirey and she’ll tell you that robotic surgery is the only way to go. Robotically-assisted surgical devices are changing the experience of surgery for both doctors and patients with minimally invasive, robot-assisted technology. Robotic surgical systems allow surgeons to work through a few small incisions using tiny instruments and precise motion control inside the patient’s body.
When Colleen needed surgery on her mitral valve because of an infection, her doctor recommended using a robotic surgical system. Her operation was performed with a tiny incision and she was able to return to her beloved salsa dancing in just five weeks. Compared to conventional surgery, robotic surgery offers less pain, a quicker recovery, and fewer complications. Surgeons appreciate the increased precision, flexibility, and control during the operation.
Robotic Surgery
Robotic surgery is relatively new but has grown rapidly since the FDA approved the first robotically-assisted surgical systems for general laparoscopic surgery in 2000. The best-known surgical robot, the Da Vinci Surgical System, is used in more than 4,400 hospitals in 66 countries by more than 43,000 trained surgeons. Robotic surgery statistics released by iData report that over 693,000 robotically assisted procedures were completed in the United States in 2017.
One of those procedures was for school principal Tonya Forbes of Holy Angels Catholic School in Aurora, IL. An article published in The Daily Herald describes how her orthopedic surgeon “deployed a high-tech robotic system called Mako Robotic-Arm Assisted Surgery” to execute a partial knee replacement which allowed Forbes to regain 120 degrees of motion within two weeks and be back out on the playground with her students during recess.
As we enter 2019, Paul Kostek, Senior Systems Engineer at Base 2 Solutions and a senior member of the IEEE, forecasts that we will see expanded use of AI (Artificial Intelligence) with robotic surgery in 2019. The robotics and AI revolution are here, and it will transform all aspects of medical care, touching nearly everyone’s lives. Markets and Markets report that the “global market for surgical robots will experience a compound annual growth rate of 10.4%, from $3.9 billion in 2018 to $6.5 billion by 2023.”
Currently, da Vinci is the market leader, but The Robotics Business Review is encouraging its readers to keep an eye on the following new surgery robots: the PRECEYES Surgical System, the CorPath System, the Monarch Platform, the Mako Rio, and the Versius. These new systems will bring increased capabilities for surgery on the eyes, lungs, hips, knees, and abdomen. They will also allow the use of virtual reality to allow surgeons to prepare for operations and perform remotely controlled surgery from a distance.
At SPM, we are proud to be a part of this revolution in medical care. Finely tuned precision parts are critical to the quality of the device and the success of the surgery. Our highly trained engineers and unmatched precision machining capabilities allow us to make robotic surgery parts that cannot be equaled by other suppliers. We have earned the trust of the medical industry by producing parts that are intricately machined and compliant with strict specifications.
When we engineered the stainless steel gimbal lock plate for a customer in the medical industry, the specs called for the use of stainless steel which can withstand repeated sterilizations. In order to manufacture this precise part in a short 6-8 week turnaround, our skilled machinists executed setups that required a wide variety of tools to accurately and repeatedly form the multiple dimensions, contours, and angles. Our expert quality control team used dimensional and optical inspections to ensure that we maintained close tolerances on the lock plate.
The rapidly advancing robotic surgery market knows that it can count on us to machine component parts that conform to the highest standards. For more information about our capabilities and services for precision machining parts for robotic surgical systems, please contact us at +1 (847) 647-7111 or sales@spmswiss.com.
