Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/982001
Drs. Li and Derasari review a patient's X-ray. To further ensure successful patient outcomes, NYP Queens has also revamped its rehabilitation and pain management protocols. interested. Surgeons receive training directly from the company that produces the robot, which also keeps a representa- tive at NYP Queens to help with the robot a nd a nswer a ny questions surgeons may have. " The compa ny provides a tra ining course for our surgeons, and NYP Queens mandates that we attend the course and receive certification before using the machine," Dr. Li says. The training course encompasses two day-long sessions that culminate with the surgeons practicing with the robot in a cadaver lab. Once surgeons are certi- fied, they are required to perform their first few surgeries alongside sta€ mem- bers who already have strong backgrounds with the machine. A f ter these initia l procedures, surgeons can begin leading hip and knee replacements with the robot on their own. THE RIGHT CHOICE Before acquiring the robot, Dr. Derasari and other members of NYP Queens sta€ visited the headquarters of the company that produces the robot to learn more about the machine, which was designed with input from expert surgeons. Once the hospital decided the robot would be a beneficial addition to the orthopedics program, NYP Queens recruited new talent Dr. Li arrived, he led the f irst tota l knee replacement using t he robot at N Y P Queens. The operation was successful a nd helped relieve a patient 's pa in that wa s caused by joint degeneration a s a result of osteoa r thritis. FURTHER APPLICATIONS New applications a re still being found for t he r ob ot , a nd ne w s of t w a r e i s relea sed per iod ica l ly wh ich a l low s theˆ machine to be used for additiona l t y pes of su rger ies. For exa mple, t he robot wa s initia l ly used for tota l hip replacements and eventua lly expanded its capabilities to include pa r tia l a nd tota l knee replacements. " When new software is released, NYP Queens actively obta ins it," Dr. Li says. " We wa nt to adopt new technolog y a nd applications as they come." Even with the robot a lready ser ving as a proven va luable tool for or thopedic surgeons, Dr. Dera sa ri looks for wa rd t o f i n d i n g n e w w a y s o f u s i n g t h e robotˆa nd has beg un performing revi- sion surgeries on patients with previous r e p l a c e m e n t s w h o a r e u n h a p p y withˆtheir results or a re experiencing adverse complications. " We still haven't tapped into the full potentia l of t he robot ," Dr. Dera sa r i says. " We're f inding out that it ca n do more tha n we thought." ■ to help make sure the robot's implementa- tion was successful. "My fellowship at New York University Hospital for Joint Diseases was for total and partial hip and knee replacements, with the robot being an integral part of my fellowship," Dr. Li says. "Robotic surgeons at New York University helped trial the robot, and I was specifically trained on using it." W hile other procedures had a lready been performed with the robot before 1 9 M D N E W S . C O M /// M D N E W S L O N G I S L A N D ■ 2 018