A state-of-the-art $1 million robot will help doctors complete precision total knee replacement surgery at Dudley Private Hospital for the first time.
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The Robotic Surgical Assistant (ROSA) is the first for the Central West and will enable the hospital to provide treatment that was previously limited to major cities.
The ROSA is designed to help specially trained orthopaedic surgeons at the hospital with the precise placement of the knee implants.
Orthopaedic surgeon Dr Evan Jones said the hospital's staff and surgeons all welcomed the evolution in adult joint reconstruction.
"While the surgeon remains in complete control of the procedure, the ROSA robot will provide an extra level of precision and accuracy," Dr Jones said.
"The main aim for our team is to improve theatre efficiency and, of course, the goal is always to strive for better patient outcomes.
"The benefit for our patients is they can remain in the region to have access to this technology instead of having to travel to, and stay in, the metropolitan cities."
The purchase of the equipment was made by Dudley Private Hospital's owner and operator, Ramsay Health Care, an Australian established, global health care company.
Dudley Private Hospital CEO Paul McKenna said the company believed robotics would play a large part in the future of how the hospitals staff and surgeons could care for patients.
"ROSA will be installed in March and our five orthopaedic surgeons have already begun their training in the use of this equipment to ensure they are completely skilled in its use prior to patient procedures.
"Total knee replacements are very common in Australia so we're excited that we can offer additional services to the region."
He said there were a couple of hundred knee replacements that were conducted at the private hospital each year and the new robotics equipment would be used to assist doctors during surgery.
Mr McKenna said he anticipated that the new robotics equipment would be used on the first patient in the last week of March.
However, he said it would depend on when the ROSA arrived, and whether the ROSA was required for a surgery at that time.
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