This system is particularly suitable for vulnerable patients, such as very young children or the elderly, in whom diagnosis and treatment must be adjusted to the maximum and individualized.
The team led by Dr. Pablo Clavel, neurosurgeon and director of the Clavel Institute at Hospital Quirónsalud Barcelona, regularly employs AI equipment in spine surgeries, as it helps to improve precision and accuracy in the placement of implants in the spine.
"High-tech AI has changed surgical standards and the surgeon can now 'preview' the operation before performing it. Back injuries, and more specifically those suffered by the spine, have become a problem that affects more and more people. Age, overexertion and bad posture are some of the causes that give rise to the disorder," explains this specialist.
The doctor recalls that spinal surgeries are performed to correct spinal pathologies that cause pain in the patient; an option that precisely, he says, gains strength when conservative treatments have not had the expected effect, and the pain persists and prevents the development of a normal life in patients.
Low invasive
This surgeon emphasizes that, at present, the main alternative to conventional spinal surgery is surgery using minimally invasive techniques. "AI makes it possible to pre-establish different surgical scenarios to test the results that are most likely to be produced by surgery. In this way, the medical team can have a better chance of success and decide on the best alternative for each specific case. Developing a surgical plan for each patient increases the success rate in high-risk interventions, such as spine surgery".
In addition, Dr. Clavel emphasizes that the robotics used today in surgical equipment allows the patient to have a clearer vision of the results of the treatment beforehand: "In this way, the patient knows what to expect and will know beforehand how it will improve his quality of life, and what possible risks are involved in a type of intervention in which artificial intelligence minimizes unforeseen events".
In the opinion of the director of the Clavel Institute at Hospital Quirónsalud Barcelona, the use of the latest technology is a new way of understanding surgery by modifying the standard of surgical interventions. Dr. Clavel is an expert in the use of the latest generation Mazor X Stealth™ Edition spinal robotic guidance platform, manufactured by Medtronic, with which he has already performed more than one hundred operations at Hospital Quirónsalud Barcelona.
Customize each case
"This pioneering new platform combines the tools needed to carry out preoperative planning with instruments that assist and guide the surgeon during the operation. The specific software that accompanies the Mazor XTM robot allows precise programming of the surgery, taking into account the characteristics of each individual patient," says this expert.
In this way, neurosurgeons have access to the preoperative images prior to the intervention, thus speeding up and facilitating the entire process: "We enter them into the robot's computer and draw on the screen the exact trajectory and size of the instrumentation we want to place in that patient. The robotic arm then follows that direction, that implant size, and that angulation that we have given it. All this allows us to achieve an accuracy that we do not have with any other system.
Increased accuracy
Specifically, he values that the Mazor X Stealth™ Edition robot is indicated to achieve precise placement of implants used in spine surgery, both percutaneous or minimally invasive, as well as open. "This automaton allows the surgeon to guide the surgeon in spine implants with greater precision and less radiation exposure in both lumbar and dorsal spine pathology cases. This system eliminates the erroneous placement of transpedicular screws for arthrodesis or fixation," he emphasizes.
Likewise, the Quirónsalud Barcelona specialist points out that precision is essential in this type of intervention, since a small millimeter error can mean that the patient may leave with a neurological or nerve injury. "The robotic arm allows us to draw trajectories that would be impossible for the surgeon to perform manually, and completely eliminates any possibility of error due to a tremor or an inadequate movement," says Dr. Clavel.
New Possibilities
The outlook is yes, since this neurosurgeon's team is considering new challenges and approaches for this type of surgery, thanks to the experience acquired in this first year of work with the Mazor X Stealth Edition platform. "We are starting to consider new approaches, such as lateral or posterior, to continue advancing in an increasingly less invasive surgery".
Ultimately, the doctor points out that it would represent a new approach of special interest in elderly patients, given their more fragile condition, while at the same time avoiding risks and complications in these cases, according to the neurosurgeon. "A minimally invasive approach translates into fewer complications during the operation and a better recovery for the patient," concludes the director of the Clavel Institute at Hospital Quirónsalud Barcelona.
