Spinal Surgery Robot

A spinal surgery robot is a guidance system that holds a surgical instrument exactly on a planned trajectory while screws are placed into the vertebrae. The surgeon plans every screw on the patient's own three-dimensional images before the operation, and during surgery the robotic arm moves to each planned path and locks there, so the drill and the screw follow the trajectory precisely. The robot does not operate by itself and makes no decisions: it removes the guesswork from freehand placement in bone that is small, rotated or deformed. Because the position is planned and verified with imaging, screws can be placed through smaller openings, which supports minimally invasive spinal surgery with less muscle disruption.