May, if you did not already know, was National Arthritis Awareness Month. And what better way to acknowledge that fact than to devote some time to learning about something novel and likely impactful for arthritis patients in the future.
Specifically, we decided to check in on Yair D. Kissin, M.D., vice chair of Orthopedic Surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, New Jersey, and ask him what has him excited about the future of arthritis treatment.
Dr. Kissin had recently completed a case using a surgical robot and he wanted to tell us about it and, more specifically, his patient Eugenia Dziopa.
It has been 15 months since her February 2020 arthroplasty, and she is doing great. “I am very happy I decided to have a total knee replacement and am thankful I had the option of robotic surgery,” said Eugenia. “Otherwise, I would just be sitting. I was in so much pain. There was truly no alternative. The addition of the robot gave me confidence that the procedure would be precise and accurate.”
The Robotic System
The surgical assist robot that Dr. Kissin used in Eugenia Dziopa’s case was manufactured by Fremont, California-based THINK Surgical, Inc., and is new to Hackensack University Medical Center.
The system, which is called the TSolution One® Total Knee Application is comprised of TPLAN®, a 3D pre-surgical planning workstation, and TCAT®, the active robot assist device. Using that system, Dr. Kissin completed his preoperative planning and, in his view, achieved a higher level of patient personalization.
According to Dr. Kissin, “I was one of the principal investigators on the FDA investigational device exemption (IDE) trial for the TSolution. There were 115 total cases at 5 centers in the U.S. (I did 25 at my hospital). We were able to demonstrate that the robot resulted in very accurate placement of implants: 1.5mm or less—which is impossible to replicate with conventional surgery. And importantly, the robot was safe and didn’t cut something that it was not supposed to cut.”
Once the FDA clearance came through, says Dr. Kissin, he convinced the president of the hospital to buy one of the robots. “We were the first hospital in the U.S. to do a case once the TSolution was commercialized.”
“Surgeons have a lot of choices as far as robots these days and sometimes it comes down to how much or how little technology is involved,” says Dr. Kissin.
Open Platform
“While some robotic platforms involve the surgeon cutting with a saw through a robotically placed cutting guide, with the TSolution One the surgeon’s hand is only on the stop/start button while the robot does the cutting without the need for a cutting guide.”
“Also, rather than a saw blade, which is flexible, THINK’s robotic cutter is rigid, which I believe provides increased accuracy. Lastly, the TSolution is the only ‘open platform’ where the surgeon can use implants from a variety of companies, where other robotic systems are limited to use with a single manufacturer’s implants.”
And the price?
Dr. Kissin, who has performed more than 60 TKA joint replacement procedures with THINK’s TSolution One Total Knee Application, told OTW, “I understand that the TSolution is competitively priced compared to other robotic systems. A unique advantage of the TSolution is that it gives the hospital a choice of implant vendors while providing a technologically advanced surgical robot to remain competitive.”
