Robotics Helps in curing Knee with Arthiritis
Biomedical engineers developed a robotic arm to very precisely resurface the knee before replacing it. In order to do this, a 3-D image of the knee is generated, providing a live-action view of the knee during surgery. A stereo camera system constantly updates surgeons on the location of the diseased portion of the knee–this keeps the healthy parts untouched. Visual alarms and artificial resistance tell the surgeons when they are too close to healthy parts. After the resurfacing is done, the implant is placed.
Virtual realityMore than 15 million Americans have osteoarthritis in their knees, and about 600,000 of them could be helped by a partial knee replacement. A new way to fix arthritic knees that uses robots and computers is helping patients walk out of the hospital the same day of surgery.Once an avid runner, Harvey Saff was surprised when he was sidelined with knee osteoarthritis.”It felt like a knife going right through me,” said Saff. “That’s the only description that can aptly describe it.”
