Private health centre in Chichester introduces state of the art robotic arm-assisted surgery

Officials at the Nuffield Health Centre in Chichester said the introduction of the Mako robotic arm should help teams meet the growing demand for orthopaedic surgery across Sussex. The cutting-edge technology is an ideal assistant for total knee, partial knee and total hip replacements, and, in a bid to cut down on waiting times across the city, the centre is in talks with the NHS about plans to fund robot assisted joint surgery for qualifying NHS referrals.

The robotic assistant allows consultants to make more precise joint cuts during surgery, preventing damage to sensitive soft tissue in the joint, and to insert joint replacements themselves with greater accuracy and precision. It is hoped that making the procedure more precise in this way will reduce recovery time, reduce pain and improve functional results for patients. It uses 3D images generated by the patient’s own CT scan to plan the exact size and orientation of the implant, and then to guide the surgeon as they remove the original bone and fit the implant itself.