Robotic spine innovation reaches children

Spine robots have made significant advancements, and in recent months three hospitals began offering the technology for pediatric patients.

In June, Ascension’s Dell Children’s Medical Center North Campus in Austin, Texas, became the first pediatric hospital in the world to perform spine surgeries with robotic assistance. The technology assists surgeons in complex spinal deformity cases. 

That same month Nemours Children’s Hospital in Wilmington, Del. added the Velys robot for spine surgery. And in August Ryan Farmer, MD and Lawrence Haber, MD, of New Orleans-based Ochsner Children’s Hospital, performed the state’s first robot-assisted pediatric spine surgery using an ExcelsiusGPS to address Scheuermann’s kyphosis.

Dr. Shah, who has used Velys at Nemours Children’s Hospital, said he’s used the robot for placing instruments, intraoperative guidance and screw placement. 

“It is not our intention to just use the robot for the most complex but we put the robot to the test of whether this can handle that,” he said. “I think what’s important for the learning curve is to approach standard cases with the robot, build your workflow, navigate the learning curve with those cases, and then continue to use it for more and more complex cases as well.”

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