AUGUST 23, 2018—Dr. Akhil Sastry, Board-Certified Orthopaedic Surgeon and provider at Atlantic Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine, recently taught a MAKO total knee course for Stryker in Mahwah, NJ.
Stryker is one of the world’s leading medical technology companies. Their MAKO system is a surgeon-controlled robotic arm that enables accurate alignment and placement of implants, and Sastry has been participating in their educational programs throughout the country teaching the full knee replacement on the robotic platform.
Sastry began using the MAKO Robotic-Arm Assisted Surgery System in 2016 and was the first surgeon in New Hampshire and Maine to perform a robotic assisted knee replacement.
“Planning is a major component,” Sastry said. “The patient has a CT scan of the knee and the MAKO system will create a patient-specific 3-D model to pre-plan the knee replacement.”
Following the personalized pre-operative plan, the surgeon guides the robotic-arm during bone preparation to execute the pre-determined surgical plan and to position the implant. By selectively targeting only the part of the knee damaged by osteoarthritis, surgeons can resurface the diseased portion of the knee while helping to spare the healthy bone and ligaments surrounding the knee joint.
“Our patients get customized procedures, tailored specifically to them,” Sastry said. “Sensors are placed on the bones and signals are sent to the robot. If the surgeon strays just one millimeter from the specific measurements, the robot will stop.”
Sastry, who is the premier robotic-assisted orthopaedic surgeon of Atlantic Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, said the robot “allows us creative license to reposition the implant in any direction we want to achieve consistent range of motion.”
“The new knee feels more natural,” Sastry said. “This level of precision allows for quicker recovery and the likelihood of fewer issues for the patient once fully rehabilitated.”
Sastry is certified in both partial and total robotic-assisted knee replacements.
“By using this new technology, it results in a home run every time,” Sastry said.
