Gachon University Gil Medical Center said it has introduced an AI-based robot for orthopedic surgery, NAVIO, for the first time in Korea, and successfully conducted a knee replacement using the new technology.

A team led by Professor Sim Jae-ang of the Orthopedics Department at Gil Medical Center on Wednesday last week performed joint replacement surgery using NAVIO on a 70-something person who had degenerative osteoarthritis. The operation was successful, and the patient is recovering.

Surgeons perform a knee replacement surgery using an AI-based robot for orthopedic surgery, NAVIO. (Credit: Gachon University Gil Medical Center)

NAVIO is a robot with the most advanced technologies, such as AI, machine learning, augmented reality (AR), anatomy, and image fusion.

A patient undergoing a robotic knee arthroplasty used to require computed tomography (CT) images. However, NAVIO has an “Image-Free Platform,” which does not require separate CT images, the hospital said.

The Image-Free Platform is a system that provides physicians with 3-D anatomical information based on the patient's kinematic alignment. A separately installed UV camera interacts with more than 10 sensors to thoroughly analyze minute movements of the physician and lesions and provides real-time information with AR technology.

The accumulated information is then compared with pre-simulation results, and the system tells physicians in real-time whether they are operating at the correct angle and size. On the monitor, the robot provides the required cutting area in four colors -- purple for 3mm and over, blue for 2mm, green for 1mm, and white for the target zone.

Surgeons can perform the operation that best suits the patient's condition, and the robot helps avoid the risk of malfunction or damage to healthy tissues by correcting its position and direction by itself.

During surgery, the robot provides a “bur cut guide” for drilling holes precisely, “distal bur technique” for cutting, and robotics technology for cutting delicate areas.

“A great understanding and skill of the surgeon's artificial joint surgery should be a priority, but a robotic joint surgery will significantly help doctors improve the accuracy of the surgery. It will be particularly helpful for those who perform knee replacement for the first time,” Sim said.

Robotic surgery, armed with advanced technologies, can reduce reoperations, improve patient satisfaction with fast recovery, increase staff efficiency by reducing fatigue, and reduce complications of the patient, he added.

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