Original article at https://fox56.com/news/local/geisingers-new-robotic-arm-could-make-surgery-less-painful
SCRANTON (WOLF) — A state-of-the-art robotic arm might make your next surgery less painful.
Scranton’s Geisinger Community Medical Center showed off its Mako system Thursday.
Doctors say it’s the first of its kind in our area.
It works for partial or full knee replacements and full hip replacements.
All you have to do is get a CAT scan, then a surgeon highlights the exact area that needs to be removed, down to the millimeter.
The precision means a smaller incision, less damage, and a faster recovery.
“The thing is that the robot doesn’t have a mind of it’s own, at least yet, so everything that you tell it to do, I have to tell it to do,” explained Dr. John Mercuri, an orthopedic surgeon at Scranton’s Geisinger Community Medical Center. “Then when I perform the surgery, it’s assisting me to do that and there will be no error between that plan and the end result that you get.”
Mercuri says since starting in December, doctors have already performed 10 surgeries with the robotic arm, and more are on the books.
They hope to us the new tech on as many patients as possible.