The excitement and hype around spinal robotics continues to grow as more device companies launch new robotic devices and more surgeons become familiar with the technology.
Surgical robots entered the spine field in 2004, when the FDA cleared the Mazor SpineAssist to guide the placement of pedicle screws. Spine robots have come a long way over the last two decades, but their widespread adoption faces challenges around the size, cost and procedural limitations of the technology in its current iteration.
"My general consensus is that a lot of surgeons haven't bought into [robots] yet," Daniel Choi, MD, of Patchogue, N.Y.-based Spine Medicine & Surgery of Long Island, said during a panel at the 21st Annual Spine, Orthopedic & Pain Management-Driven ASC + The Future of Spine Conference in Chicago. "There's a lot of hype and it's really just a rigid arm that directs you where you put the screws. It's not robotically doing a decompression. I think we're pretty far away from something like that. If a robot actually helped me do a decompression more effectively and safely, that's another story."
Robotic spine surgery's benefits have been well-documented, including improved accuracy, less invasive and more reproducible surgeries, reduced radiation exposure and faster procedures. While some early adopters laud the impact robots have had on their practices, others are waiting to see what the next generation of robots can do.
As robotics, navigation and other enabling technologies become more widely adopted, there is also a concern that the next generation of surgeons could become too reliant on such innovations to guide them through procedures.