Virtual Summit Submission

University of California San Diego
Human Bio

Biography

My summer research project was completed at Wakayama Medical University and I traveled to Wakayama, Japan where I also shadowed medical professionals. Total knee replacement surgery is one of the most common procedures for osteoarthritis and many of these operations are done using surgical robots. The aim of my project was to evaluate the differences between 3 surgical planning methods used in robotic-assisted total knee replacement surgery. This was done by selecting 2 surgical robots, the MAKO and ROSA systems, and splitting them into 3 preoperative planning groups MAKO CT-based ROSA imagefree and ROSA x-ray based. I reviewed 165 surgeries and measured how closely the postoperative implant positions matched the preoperative plans. I found that both the MAKO CT-based method and the ROSA imageless method produced similarly accurate results, while the ROSA X-ray based method showed larger errors, especially in tibial alignment. These findings suggest that the planning method, rather than the robot itself, plays the biggest role in surgical accuracy. More broadly, this may help hospitals choose the most reliable planning approaches as robotic surgery continues to expand worldwide.

Project

Accuracy of Coronal Implant Positioning in Robotic-Assisted Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Comparative Study of MAKO, ROSA X-ray, and ROSA Imageless Systems
Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is the standard treatment for advanced stage knee osteoarthritis. Robotic-assisted total knee arthroplasty (RATKA) uses robots to achieve greater accuracy and improved surgical outcomes. The use of surgical robots for TKA is becoming increasingly popular due to their potential to improve accuracy in implant alignment1. Two popular robotic-assisted surgical systems for TKA are the MAKO model by Stryker and the ROSA model by Zimmer-Biomet. The primary distinction between these is that the MAKO model incorporates an attached bone saw and haptic feedback while the ROSA model provides a cutting guide where a hand-held bone saw is applied. The MAKO system utilizes preoperative CT-based planning combined with haptic-assisted bone resection, while the ROSA system offers multiple planning options, including X-ray-based and imageless (intraoperative landmark-based) methods. Although both systems are designed to improve accuracy, their different between robotic system and planning methods may influence implant alignment. Previous studies have found no significant difference in joint line height restoration between the MAKO TKA and ROSA TKA systems (Xray-based)2, but direct comparisons of coronal implant positioning among CT-based, x-ray-based, and imageless robotic systems remain limited. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the accuracy of coronal implant positioning among three robotic-assisted TKA groups: MAKO (CT-based), ROSA X-ray based, and ROSA imageless systems.