Photo courtesy Joshua Herzog
Surgeons at HCA’s Johnston-Willis Hospital have a new tool when performing complex spinal work.
It’s a robotic surgical device called the Mazor X, which provides preoperation planning and guidance during the procedure. It’s less invasive than traditional procedures, so a smaller incision is needed, and there’s less exposure of the spine, says Joshua Herzog, a surgeon with OrthoVirginia and Johnston-Willis, who performed the first procedure with the device at Johnston-Willis earlier in August. You can watch it in action below:
The hospital already had a Renaissance device, an earlier generation of a Mazor device. The Mazor X is faster in terms of “thinking” and in getting instrumentation and more stable, according to Herzog. “It’s taking what I’m doing with the robotic spinal surgery to the next level,” he says.
Photo courtesy Joshua Herzog
For the patient, there are several benefits. With smaller incisions, there may be less blood loss and less stripping of muscles. It’s quicker and more accurate as well. Patients may recover more quickly, and experience less post-procedure pain, says Herzog.
It’s not autonomous: Each step is authorized along the way. So far, Herzog, says, his patients have shown no technophobia regarding the devices. He’s using the device three or four times a week.
“Patients love the idea of having the robot in the room,” he says.
A downside to the technology is the learning curve and extensive training it’s taken to master the device. Also, It can’t think as fast as a human surgeon, and it’s a bit cumbersome to hook up on a bed, all areas Herzog foresees being improved.
“I think this is the future in spinal surgery,” he says.
HEALTHY DEVELOPMENTS
A roundup of the week’s health and medicine news
- A $25 million grant to make lifesaving medications more accessible to the people who need them has been awarded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to the engineering school at Virginia Commonwealth University. The award was announced today and goes to the Medicines for All Institute, according to a release. The institute, which is led by B. Frank Gupton, has received about $15 million from the Gates Foundation in the past four years. “These funds will allow us to bring in additional senior scientists and allow them to equip their labs and staff them immediately,” Gupton says in the release.
- The Westhampton School building has a renewed lease on life after Bon Secours announced today that it’s set to build a separate, three-story medical office building on the school property at Patterson and Libbie avenues. The 55,000-square-foot office building will stand on Libbie between the school and the Bon Secours Eveyln D. Reinhart guest house, according to a Bon Secours release. The health care provider had originally wanted to build a nursing school on the site, but abandoned the plan in December. In an agreement with the city, Bon Secours is paying $100,000 a year to Richmond Public Schools for 10 years. $400,000 has been paid so far. Bon Secours says it is welcoming proposals for joint development of the school footprint, and would give priority to any plan that would save “at least the most historically significant portion” of the school. “Everyone’s hope is that this solution will bring the highest and best use to the Westhampton School property, meet the health care needs of the community and honor our commitment to the city of Richmond and the St. Mary’s Hospital neighborhood,” says Toni R. Ardabell, CEO of Bon Secours Virginia Health System.
- The state of Virginia has a gift for new parents and parents-to-be, but first, you have to take a test. You register, then take the quiz after watching a video on safe sleep spaces for infants. Afterward, you are eligible for a free baby box that includes items such as disposable diapers and wipes. They come in a box that is a safe space for an infant to sleep in to age 6 months. The boxes are available in a partnership between the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth University, The Baby Box Company and the Virginia Department of Social Services. Sleep-related issues are the leading cause of death in infants in Virginia each year, according to Margaret Ross Schultze, the social service department’s commissioner.
- The 10th Richmond 9/11 Heroes Run 5K begins at 2 p.m. on Sept. 10 at 1000 Semmes Ave. The run is sponsored by the Travis Manion Foundation. Online registration is $30 and up and closes Sept. 6. You can register race day for $35 and up.
- Have a drink and help the Alzheimer’s Association of Greater Richmond from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 13 at Julep’s New Southern Cuisine. Julep’s, 420 E. Grace St., will donate 10 percent of sales to the association as part of its monthly Cocktails for a Cause event.
- A new medication that slows loss of physical functions in people with Lou Gehrig’s disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) is available at VCU Health. The medication, Radicava, is administered intravenously and slows decline by a third and reduces body stress, according to a release. Lou Gehrig's disease is a rare, progressive condition that kills nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.
