Spine Surgery In West Orange Done Using Groundbreaking Technology

WEST ORANGE, NJ —Atlantic Spine Center announced Wednesday that it has become the first ambulatory surgery practice along the mid-Atlantic seaboard to perform a successful spinal fusion operation using a next-generation, GPS-like robotic navigation system called ExcelsiusGPS.

A spokesperson for the practice said the surgery was performed at the Advanced Spine & Outpatient Surgery Center in West Orange, 347 Mt Pleasant Ave.

Dr. Praveen Kadimcherla, medical director at Atlantic Spine Center, performed the robotic operation along with colleague Dr. Kaixuan Liu, according to a release. Kadimcherla, a spinal surgeon known for his expertise in endoscopic and minimally invasive spine surgery, called the technology "groundbreaking."

"The technology is among the most advanced systems available," Kadimcherla said. "The robot proved quicker and more precise than any experienced surgeon performing a standard spinal fusion. The patient was able to be discharged home the same day with almost no pain following surgery, assisted with continuous pain infusion for up to three days."

According to Atlantic Spine Center, the patient was a 57-year-old man suffering from a collapsed disc in his lower back and a bone spur impinging on a sciatic nerve. Medical images of the affected area were imported into the ExcelsiusGPS software, providing a GPS-like mapping system to guide a robotic arm with pinpoint accuracy.

The doctors then made small incisions, inserted an endoscope - a tiny 3D camera allowing the surgeons to see the smallest anatomical details - and removed the herniated disk material. They replaced the material with a tiny, expandable titanium cage with bone material to fill the void.

Then, using the robot arm, the doctors positioned four screws to stabilize the spine.

"Insertion of the screws typically takes as long as an hour, but with the robot, we completed the procedure in under 10 minutes," Kadimcherla said. "Our patient was able to go home immediately after surgery without the intense pain that normally follows this kind of spinal fusion and avoid a costly, extended hospital stay."

Kadimcherla continued: "This latest technology enables procedures to be performed more quickly through smaller incisions and with less muscle and soft tissue damage. For the patient, such efficiency means lower risk of postoperative infection, minimal blood loss, less dependency on pain medications, improved cosmetic results due to the limited size of the surgical cuts and a quicker return to everyday activities. The system also reduces radiation exposure for both patient and surgeon."

Although robotics is not a new technology, the ExcelsiusGPS represents a major step forward, the Atlantic Spine Center said. The practice pointed out that the Chinese Neurosurgical Journal said the ExcelsiusGPS contained "several technological advances over prior spine robots."

Meanwhile, the publication Frontiers in Surgery said the robot offered "equivalent accuracy and decreased radiation exposure compared with other methods of (spinal) screw placement."

"(The technology), keeps our Atlantic Spine Center on the cutting edge of advancements and novel applications in spinal surgery," Kadimcherla said.