When his team showed up in an operating room on Wednesday, Dr. Hai Nguyen felt a bit like he was operating in front of an audience.
On the other side of the bay window were other specialist doctors, staff and representatives of the supplier of the brand new robot recently equipped with the Charles-Lemoyne hospital, on the South Shore of Montreal.
This robot assisted the orthopedist during a knee replacement.
As for bone cuts, that takes us to half a millimeter of precision, so it helps make the surgery more precise. […] and it allows you to balance the knee in a personalized way
explains Dr. Nguyen.
We’ve been doing this for seven decades with manual instruments, a bit like a mechanic balancing front wheels, with the surgeon’s eye and thumb. It was about time we moved on to something more technologically advanced.
Just before the surgery, patient Mario Brunelle said he was happy to participate in this first at the hospital.
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Nearly 40,000 patients like Mario Brunelle are on the waiting list for orthopedic surgery in Quebec.
Photo : Ivanoh Demers
If the surgery is good, so much the better: it will be useful for everyone after that
said Mr. Brunelle. He said he waited eight years before deciding to undergo the surgery, which his previous doctor considered too complex. It can’t be worse than what I have here, it has to be better.
According to Dr. Hai Nguyen, the use of this robot is likely to improve the rehabilitation of patients like Mr. Brunelle and reduce the number of surgical corrections.
$1.2 million from the Foundation
Financing the purchase of new equipment is undoubtedly a feat in these times of staff cuts and postponement of infrastructure work.
At the Charles-Lemoyne Hospital Foundation, the team of CEO Nathalie Boudreau had been working there for a year and a half.
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Nathalie Boudreau manages the Charles-Lemoyne Hospital Foundation, which has existed for 60 years.
Photo : Ivanoh Demers
This is an important gesture because, more and more, we will see the arrival of robots in surgery in all sectors of activity.
says the manager. It is a must for a foundation that invests in innovation.
The Charles-Lemoyne hospital is the only public hospital in Quebec, in addition to the Lakeshore hospital, which has this device from the Velys firm. The first two patients were operated on on Wednesday.
Elsewhere in Canada, this robot began to be used in early 2023.
Other suppliers like Zimmer Biomet also offer state-of-the-art equipment.
