China completes robot-assisted total hip replacement surgery

BEIJING -- China's first total hip replacement surgery assisted by a domestic robot was completed at the Beijing Jishuitan Hospital this week.

The patient of the surgery had suffered hip pain and limping for years, due to the endemic Kaschin-Beck disease, which resulted in severe abrasion and deformity of the hip joint.

The robot-assisted surgery carried out by the hospital's surgeon Zhou Yixin in Beijing, replaced her total hip joint by making technological breakthroughs in selecting the most suitable individualized position of the prosthesis for the patient and controlled the implanting deviation angle by less than one degree.

The robot dynamically analyzed the patient's anatomy as well as the spine-hip relation and carried out the individualized surgery planning exactly as planned, according to Zhou.

As the country's first surgical robot for hip replacement, it was independently developed by Zhou's team and Tinavi, a Chinese tech company that specializes in the development of orthopedic surgical robots.

The team led by Zhou also developed other intelligent surgical robots specializing in knee joint replacement and deformity correction of lower limbs.

"About 300,000 hip replacement surgeries were completed in China in 2018, with a year-on-year increase of 10 to 15 percent," said Zhou.

He believes robot-assisted surgeries would be popularized around the country and contribute to more accurate and intelligent treatments for patients.