“Khalifa Medical” is the first government hospital to perform a knee replacement with a “robot”

Consultant orthopedic surgeon, specialist in knee surgery and sports injuries at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, Dr. Yacoub Abdullah Al-Hammadi, performed a knee joint replacement and dressing for a patient using a robot and artificial intelligence, which is the first operation of its kind in government hospitals in the country, according to Al-Hammadi.

Al-Hammadi explained in press statements that the surgery was performed on a citizen patient (61 years old), who was suffering from an external deviation in the knee joint, which makes the operation more difficult because the deviation is usually inward. The operation was performed completely successfully, using a robotic arm, and it took only two hours.

He pointed out that he will perform robot-assisted knee replacement surgery for more than 60 patients over the next four months, which will contribute to reducing the duration of the operation to one hour, after the medical team gets used to it, and will help increase the number of operations performed per day.

He said: “90% of knee dressing operations in the future will be using a robot, while knee dressing operations will continue in the usual way for some patients for whom the robotic procedure is not suitable, such as bone deficiency and severe deviations,” noting that the use of the robot in orthopedic surgeries, currently, In knee replacement surgery only, in the future it will be used in shoulder, hip, and foot surgeries, in addition to orthotics.

Al-Hammadi stressed that performing a knee replacement operation with the help of a robot and artificial intelligence technology is a scientific advancement that orthopedic surgeons benefit from in performing a total knee replacement, as this system works in conjunction with the surgeon’s manual skills, to ensure that the new knee is placed accurately and reaches its correct position, according to the unique anatomy of each patient. patient, who uses 3D imaging before the operation, noting that the additional level of accuracy helps enhance the function of the replaced knee, increase the patient’s acceptance of it, and prolong its life to up to 30 years.

He added: “The use of artificial intelligence in knee replacement surgery helps the doctor perform surgical operations with greater accuracy by transmitting accurate information about the patient’s knee,” stressing that the robot does not perform the operation, but rather helps in raising the quality and accuracy of the operation, which is reflected in the final results. So that the patient feels less pain after the operation, the rehabilitation period is lighter, his movement is faster, and he feels that the replaced knee is the same as his original knee.

Al-Hammadi continued: “The shapes of knees differ from one person to another, and the role of the robot begins by making a three-dimensional imaging of the patient’s knee, and based on this imaging, the doctor determines how to perform the operation,” noting that artificial intelligence gives the doctor an image of the shape of the bone after cutting before the operation begins. So that the doctor can determine all the details of the surgery with very high accuracy.

He stressed that the use of the robot during surgery contributes to reducing the error rate to nearly zero, because if the doctor exceeds less than 0.1 mm in the pre-drawn path of the operation, the robot stops working and alerts the doctor to step back in order to ensure accuracy of implementation, whether in cutting bones or dressing. The replacement knee, pointing out that the replacement knee in the past was one and was worn for all people, but modern technology has helped to tailor a special knee for each patient according to his condition and standards, so that the patient comes out with a knee that is completely similar to his original knee.

He stressed that it is difficult for a robot, no matter how developed it is in the future, to replace a human surgeon, because the human doctor is the one who programs the robot and enters information before work, so the robot carries out the tasks entrusted to it with the utmost precision, and at the same time it is an assistant to the surgeon, and it can also That reduces the role of the human surgeon.

Al-Hammadi revealed that the rates of osteoarthritis of the knee have increased in the recent period, and thus the number of surgical operations has increased.