To strengthen innovation leadership, establish high-quality platforms, and better meet the public’s demand for high-quality medical services, on May 7th, the Department of Orthopedics at Peking Union Medical College Hospital held the Mako Smart Robot Launch Ceremony and successfully completed two hip/knee joint replacement surgeries, which were also live-streamed. Nearly a hundred leaders from clinical medical technology departments and functional offices, as well as orthopedic colleagues from across the country, attended the event offline, while over two thousand people watched the cutting-edge academic lectures and the spectacular live surgeries online.
This surgical robot covers three commonly used surgical procedures in orthopedics: total hip arthroplasty, total knee arthroplasty, and unicompartmental knee arthroplasty. It enables surgical precision control at the millimeter level. Compared to traditional surgical methods, robot-assisted joint replacement surgery reconstructs a three-dimensional model based on preoperative CT scan data, allowing for a comprehensive visualization of important information such as three-dimensional positioning, angles, sizes, and bone coverage of artificial joints. This helps surgeons with more intuitive preoperative planning and precise execution, significantly improving the accuracy of hip/knee joint replacement surgeries, reducing surgical risks and postoperative complications, and prolonging the lifespan of prosthetic implants. “We hope that the progress made by Peking Union Medical College Hospital in robot-assisted orthopedic surgery can serve as a reference for colleagues nationwide,” said Dr. Zhang Jianguo, the Director of the Department of Orthopedics.
The successful implementation of a new technology and project not only relies on the exploratory innovation of the leading surgical team but also requires the support of related departments such as the Department of Anesthesiology and the Operating Room. Qiu Jie, the Director of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Shen Le (in charge), the Deputy Director of the Department of Anesthesiology, and Wang Huizhen, the Executive Chief Nurse of the Operating Room, delivered speeches, expressing their full support for the development of various new technologies and projects, emphasizing the importance of training and team collaboration to benefit patients.
During the keynote speech session, Prof. Weng Xisheng, Director of the Department of Surgery at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, renowned orthopedic expert Dr. Sean Toomey from the United States, Prof. Feng Bin from Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Prof. Zhang Xianlong from the Sixth People’s Hospital of Shanghai, Prof. Tian Hua from Peking University Third Hospital, Prof. Zhou Yixin from Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, and Prof. Wang Weiguo from the China-Japan Friendship Hospital delivered presentations on the application of robot-assisted joint replacement surgery.
In the live surgery session, Peking Union Medical College Hospital demonstrated one case each of robot-assisted hip joint replacement and knee joint replacement surgeries. These surgeries were performed by Professor Qian Wenwei’s team and Professor Feng Bin’s team, with insightful commentary provided by Prof. Lin Jin, Prof. Jin Jin, Prof. Weng Xisheng, and Prof. Qian Wenwei. Remarkably, the patient who underwent knee joint replacement surgery was able to successfully perform functional exercises just one day after the surgery, achieving a satisfactory knee flexion of 90 degrees.