San Francisco-based St. Mary's Medical Center combined the iFuse Implant System procedure with the Mazor Robotics Renaissance Guidance System to perform the first robot-assisted SI joint fusion in California.
Here are five observations:
1. The combination made the implant placement more accurate and enhanced patient safety. The Mazor surgical robot allows for fast and precise titanium iFuse implant placement across the SI joint. This process maximizes SI joint fixation and post-surgical stability.
2. St. Mary's Medical Center is currently the only California hospital offering patients this spine surgery technology.
3. Traditional SI joint fusion is a more invasive surgery and requires days-long hospitalization while the minimally invasive procedure takes one hour, is completed through a small incision and avoids damage to surrounding soft tissue.
4. Surgeon and associate program director of the San Francisco Orthopaedic Residency Program Dimitriy Kondrashov, MD, said, "SI joint issues are extremely common, with only recent advances of the surgical technique and understanding of the underlying causes of SI joint dysfunction…By combining these two methods, we now have a very safe and effective minimally invasive option for patients."
5. The Mazor device is made by Israeli medical device company Mazor Robotics and the iFuse Implant System is made by San Jose-based SI-Bone.
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