Ramathibodi Hospital has adopted a robot to assist doctors perform spinal surgeries, the first ever robot-assisted spine operations in Thailand, ensuring more precision and time reduction.
The surgeons' new assistant is named "Renaissance Robot", designed and developed in Israel to be a so-called specialist in spinal and brain surgeries, Sorayut Chamnanwet, a neurosurgery expert at Ramathibodi Hospital's Faculty of Medicine, said yesterday.
His hospital has used the robot in operations on five patients suffering from spinal disorders.
Dr Sorayut said the robot managed to insert screws into the bones more precisely.
"If the surgery relies completely on human hands, there will be a 10-40% risk of mistakes while doctors attach the screws."
"With the help of the robot, surgeons can expect up to 99% precision," he said.
In terms of time, the traditional surgery requires one or two hours on average, but the robot can help doctors cut time down to between only 10 and 20 minutes.
Most of those suffering spinal disorders are the elderly. Spine complciations can result in pain and lead to difficulty in walking and accidents.
The price of this semi-robotic surgery is about 80,000 baht and the operation is not covered by state medical welfare packages, according to the hospital.
However, if patients still want to have an operation done by Renaissance Robot, they can ask for financial help from the Ramathibodi Foundation, said Piyamit Sithara, dean of Ramathibodi Hospital's Faculty of Medicine.
