Lehigh Valley Health Network begins using new robotic surgery platform

Surgeons at Lehigh Valley Health Network Hospitals will be able to plan a patient’s spinal surgery before the patient even enters the operating room thanks to a new system the network has acquired.

The health network said it is first in the region to perform surgery using the Mazor X Stealth Edition Robotic Guidance Platform.

After the surgeon plans the surgery, the surgeon is then able to use the system’s robot to execute the plan.

“In a typical lumbar surgery there is an up-and-down, side-to-side motion of the surgeon’s hand that allows for margin of error,” explained Dr. Luis Cervantes, M.D., a surgeon with LVPG Neurosurgery. “The robot eliminates any motion or variation that could occur by human hand.”

He said minimally invasive procedures such as a spinal fusion require small incisions, which pose a challenge to surgeons due to the limited view of the patient’s anatomy.

The Mazor X Stealth Edition Robotic Guidance Platform helps to overcome this challenge with a 3D comprehensive surgical plan and analytics that give the surgeon information and visualization before the surgery starts.

Minimally invasive surgery has been a major focus in recent years, often providing the most advanced technologies along with high quality care for patients, said Dr. Jeffrey McConnell, M.D., a surgeon with LVPG Orthopedics and Sports Medicine.

“It allows us to perform the least invasive surgery possible,” McConnell says. “This minimizes pain and allows patients to get back to normal life sooner.”