Pioneering robot revolutionises hip and knee joint replacement

Spire Manchester is No.1 in the UK - the hospital is proud to have performed the most Mako robotic-assisted joint replacements in 2020.

The Mako robot-assisted procedure

Consultant orthopaedic surgeons at Spire Manchester Hospital use the advanced Mako robotic arm system to assist during total hip replacements, total knee replacements and partial knee replacements. The robotic technology provides a personalised surgical plan for joint replacement surgery.

CT scans are used to create a 3D model of the patient's knee for pre-surgical planning. In the operating theatre, your surgeon follows the personalised surgical plan while preparing the bone for the joint implant. The Mako robotic arm guides the consultant within pre-defined areas which prevent them from moving outside planned areas, avoiding the removal of healthy bone tissue.

As the surgeon uses the robotic arm to resurface the knee or hip joint for the placement of implants, the robotic arm uses real-time feedback to guide the surgeon's movements enabling a high degree of precision and accuracy in placing implants.

Compared to traditional surgery, Mako robot-assisted surgery has been proven to:

• Significantly reduce pain after surgery¹
• Allow a faster recovery in early knee movement²
• Perform joint replacement surgery with 2–3 times the accuracy³

How Mako works

Based on pre-operative CT scans, the Mako system generates a 3D model of a patient's knee or hip joint. This 3D model is used by the surgeons to determine how much bone to remove, and where to place the implants that replace diseased sections of these bones.

Without Mako, surgeons use a burr saw to remove bone. They work by eye and experience - instead of looking at the bone itself to determine whether enough has been removed. Mako tracks healthy and diseased bone so the surgeon can clearly see how much bone should be removed. The robotic arm is equipped with a saw and the surgeon is free to remove bone within the boundaries identified during the planning stages. If the surgeon attempts to move outside these boundaries, the saw will turn off. This helps the surgeon minimise the trauma to the hip or knee and preserves the maximum amount of healthy tissue.

Specialist consultant surgeons using the Mako robotic system

• Mr Jon Borrill
• Professor Max Fehily
• Mr Adam Hoad-Reddick
• Mr Ahmad Mobeen Ismail
• Mr Jeremy Jarratt
• Professor Sanjiv Jari
• Mr Winston Kim
• Mr Andrew Lavender
• Mr Sanat Shah

About Mako

Mako procedures have been carried out for over 10 years, with the first knee replacements being carried out in 2006, and the first hip replacement carried out in 2010. Both procedures were conducted in Florida USA. There are 300+ Mako systems assisting with surgery worldwide spanning 19 countries.

Over 70,000 robotic-arm assisted hip and knee procedures have been carried out so far and over 700 surgeons worldwide regularly perform Mako procedures.

1. Accuracy of UKA Implant Positioning and Early Clinical Outcomes in a RCT Comparing Robotic Assisted and Manual Surgery. Blyth MJ; Jones B; MacLean A; Anthony I; Rowe P; 13th Annual CAOS Meeting, June 12-15, 2013, Orlando, FL, USA
2. Kayani, Konan, Tahmessabi, Pietrzak, Haddad. Bone Joint J 2018;100-B:930–7. Robotic-arm assisted total knee arthroplasty is associated with improved early functional recovery and reduced time to hospital discharge compared with conventional jig-based total knee arthroplasty
3. Bell SW, Anthony I, Jones B, MacLean A, Rowe P, Blyth M. Improved Accuracy of Component Positioning with Robotic-Assisted Unicompartmental Knee Arthroplasty. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2016 Apr 20;98(8):627-35

Spire Healthcare does not endorse one medical product or device over another. Robotic arm assisted surgery may not be suitable for some patients. Your consultant will help you decide what treatment is best for you.