METHUEN — There’s a brand new member of Holy Family Hospital’s operating room crew that gives neurologist Dr. Anna Terry a total advantage when completing spinal fusions and other intricate procedures.
The Globus ExcelsiusGPS robot, as Terry explains, is a state-of-the-art tool offering Merrimack Valley patients shorter recovery times and fewer chances for error in the OR.
Manufactured in Pennsylvania and tuned up at a factory in Methuen, the robot made specifically for spinal surgery is one of two the Steward hospital system has — and Terry is one of a select few neurologists trained in our area on how to use it.
“It’s a tool we use to be able to do the surgeries we routinely do in a more safe, efficient and accurate manner,” said Terry, who practices at New England Neurological Associates in Lawrence and Lowell and performs surgeries at Holy Family Hospital in Methuen. “Unlike other robots, the surgeon is actually directing the robot and is right next to it. We think of the robot as an extension of ourselves — it’s not virtual reality.”
A neurosurgeon for the past seven-and-a-half years, Terry came to Holy Family Hospital after practicing at Duke University. It is there where she received her early training in robotic spinal surgery, she said, and where she was instrumental in helping acquire the Globus robot for that hospital.
Terry looks back on a patient she operated on at Duke and who recovered well from robotic spinal fusion to best explain how the technique works.
That person she operated on, a young, overweight male, had a body type that made it difficult to obtain X-rays and imaging, the doctor explained. He benefited from the minimally invasive robotic procedure because it allowed for smaller incisions and a reduced recovery time, Terry said.
The specialized piece of equipment is what Terry calls a GPS for spinal surgery. It allows surgeons to take an imaging study, such as a CAT scan, enter it into the robot’s software program, and provide real-time data as the surgery takes place.
“We’ve been using navigation techniques in brain and spine surgeries over the last 15 years and the robot is a natural extension of that,” Terry said. “It allows you to place your hardware very accurately, building on previous technology we’ve been using for years now.”
In the past, neurosurgeons relied on free-hand techniques to place hardware during surgery, she said.
And while staffing can be hard to come by at all types of companies — including hospitals — Terry assures patients the robot does not replace a body in the operating room. In fact, it comes with an entire team of medical professionals.
“The surgeon is directing the robot. I almost think of it as an extension of my arm,” Terry said. “We’re all human and we all make mistakes, even surgeons, and we want to minimize that. We want to be able to be as reproducible as possible and have the robot be an extension of our brains and hands while we can eliminate errors.”
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