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New orthopaedic robot expands service offering to patients

Sep 10, 2024

Joondalup Health Campus is proud to have expanded its robotic technology options for patients requiring knee replacement surgery.

The hospital has acquired a hand held CORI robot which is designed to improve accuracy of bone resection and assists in optimising alignment and balance.

Orthopaedic surgeon Dr Murray Blythe said robotics is increasingly used in surgery and the CORI robot adds to the hospital’s existing robotic assisted joint replacement options.

“Like all fields of surgery, we are continuing to refine our procedures to deliver a more individualised approach,” said Dr Blythe.

“Traditionally we were trying to make every knee replacement straight. With the aim of a more natural feeling knee replacement the worldwide trend has been more towards a more bespoke approach of trying to replicate, within safe limits, the alignment present before the onset of arthritis,” said Dr Blythe.

“Around eight years ago I began using 3-D printed cutting guides which are customised to each patient and which continue to be used. CORI allows me to implement the patient’s plan more accurately but also adjust it during the procedure depending on ligament tension.

Dr Blythe has been a consultant orthopaedic surgeon for a decade and says he enjoys the significant difference he can make in his patients’ lives, such as 63-year-old Donald Savory who underwent a total knee replacement using CORI.

“It is one of the few areas of medicine where patients present with a real functional problem, such as the inability to walk, and following surgery they can walk out of the hospital,” he said.

Dr Blythe performed Don’s procedure with his registrar Dr Keiran Bochat and says he enjoys training surgeons of tomorrow.

“I need to inspire them to be as good as they can be and safely push the envelope as they will be doing my knee replacement!”

Joondalup Health Campus performs around 3,800 orthopaedic surgeries each year.