(upbeat music)
- The Medtronic O-Arm Navigation System,
it's a cutting-edge method to image
the spine intraoperatively.
It's called an O-Arm because,
though it looks like a C,
it actually expands and then encircles the patient
like an O.
Historically, we have simply started to place screws
and rods using what's called a free-hand technique.
Meaning we would look at the spine
and based upon our experience and our knowledge
of the anatomy, we would just put the screws
right into the spine,
which we have done for nearly two decades.
Instead this time, we will bring in the O-Arm
and then the O-Arm will be used to image patient's spine.
And the spine will show up on the screen
in three dimensions, we'll be able to identify
exactly the ideal starting point and trajectory
for the placement of all of our screws
and we'll be able to do it real time.
Once that's done, both the patient and we, the providers
can sleep easy, knowing that everything
is exactly where it's supposed to be.
So to have better quality,
three dimensional imaging of the spine
allows us to do things better
and with a greater degree of safety
than we could ever do before.
A lot of what we do in the spine carries risk,
particularly when we're putting metallic implants,
such as screws, and rods, and cables into the spine.
Fortunately, we do put them in there place
99.9% of the time.
But even if we can benefit one in a thousand patients
by avoiding a complication, so much the better.
One of the greatest benefits of the Medtronic O-Arm
is the fact that it is applicable
for minimally invasive spine surgeries.
Spines that are complicated or somewhat abnormal
or deformed either by way of the scoliosis
or congenital defects,
spines that are small or very twisted.
Sometimes we encounter these cases
and though we have always done the best we could
and managed to get good results,
to have this imaging technology
really does improve the margin of error.
The O-Arm allows us to see the spine
without making a large incision
and so we can place these screws and other metallic implants
into the spine through incisions
that are sometimes half an inch to an inch long.
These smaller incisions result in much less pain
and a much faster recovery for the patients,
thus improving outcomes.
Though the technology is really pioneered
for use in spine surgery, the imaging advances
and precision that this offers can have major benefits
for orthopedic trauma surgery,
as well as other orthopedic conditions
where significant bony work or fracture reconstruction
is being performed.
There are many surgeries,
particularly having to do with fracture care,
where the surgeon is placing screws and rods or nails
into a very tight space with a very small margin of error.
So this O-Arm can be used in those applications
to make sure it's done perfectly every time.
I have been working at Saint Anthony
since I first came to town nearly 20 years ago.
The fact that the hospital had the foresight
to invest in this technology, really is a demonstration
of their commitment to staying ahead of the game.
To have the O-Arm there,
to make sure that we're not messing with anything,
that everything's being placed exactly where it needs to go.
The fact that this is the first one to be available
in Rockford is really not surprising,
but it does offer a significant vantages
to the patients that do have surgery at Saint Anthony.