A new robotic arm will place a north-east hospital at the “cutting edge”of surgery technology, experts believe.
The robotic-assisted equipment, unveiled at Aberdeen’s Albyn Hospital yesterday, has been hailed as “the most important step” in joint replacement operations in the last three decades.
It is hoped using the Stryker Mako system to perform hip, knee and partial knee replacements will reduce patients’ time in hospital and allow surgeons to be even more accurate in their work.
The privately-run facility in the city’s Albyn Place will be the first in Scotland to offer hip, knee and partial knee replacements using the robot, which cost more than £1million.
There are hopes this will bring patients from across the country to the north-east, establishing Aberdeen as a centre of excellence.
Consultant orthopaedic surgeon Martin Mitchell said: “This is a major advance forward in joint replacement surgery – in my opinion, the most important step forward for the last 20-30 years.
“Patients have been shown to have less pain post-op and they are able to get out of bed, get up on ward and get home more quickly.
“That’s almost certainly because the robot has not allowed us to damage the soft tissue around the joint itself.
“When we are doing it through conventional, traditional methods there is a little bit of damage caused – this eliminates that.
“We are now able to be far, far more accuracy.”
The machine is the first of its kind to be brought north of the central belt, with another private hospital in Edinburgh the only other using similar to treat patients.
Surgeons working at Albyn Hospital will also be at the forefront of research of the impact of using the arm in orthopaedic operations.
A number of studies are planned, focusing on the early results and longer-term effects of the new equipment on surgical patients.
The BMI-run hospital’s executive director Stuart Storrie said: “Geographically, this puts us right at the centre of treatment in Scotland.
“Anyone from Tayside, Moray, the Highlands and Islands we’re well placed to do this.
“Having this partnership with Stryker will help us attract surgeons and staff who are excited to use the technology.
“But the big thing is for our patients, we’re a very busy hospital but we hope it will attract more from further afield.”