Harbor Hospital recently became the only hospital in Maryland with a magnetic computer-assisted surgery system for joint replacements, said Melanie Medura, patient care coordinator at the hospital.
One of the largest problems with other prosthetic systems is that the artificial joints have a tendency to jar out of place, and this system, designed by Meditron and Zimmer, uses magnets to more accurately and securely align prosthetics, Medura said.
In general, computer-assisted surgery systems are designed to make the operation more precise from patient to patient.
“It allows a clean visualization of the joints during surgery,” Medura said. “Every patient is a little bit different, and on the computer [surgeons] can see that difference.”
Surgeons put patients? relevant medical history into the system and hook sensors into their bones, and the monitor shows exactly where to incise to produce optimal range of motion, Medura said. Previously, surgeons had to make educated guesses about what range of motion would result from incisions.
“We can determine the correct knee or hip implant alignment based on the patient?s unique anatomy, taking into account any deformities and/or bone loss,” Harbor?s Chief of Orthopedics James Woods Jr. said in a statement.
It allows surgeons to make smaller incisions, patients to recover quicker and joints to last longer, Medura said.
The hospital also joined a growing number of hospitals in the country to boast 16-slice Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography scanning equipment to better diagnose and track cancer as well as heart and brain activity.
A PET/CT scan illustrates molecular changes in relation to physical health so the most effective cancer treatment can be administered, Harbor Radiation Oncologist Dr. Jack Hong said in an e-mail.
“It is expensive but extremely important in modern medicine, as it gives more accuracy in interpretations in comparison to either CT or PET scan alone,” Hong said.
Ryan Karp, physician relationship manager for Integral PET, which produced Harbor?s scanner, said about seven other institutions in the Baltimore area have PET/CT scanners, but Hong said they do not have Harbor?s 16-slice version, which is faster and even more precise.
