Before Your Surgery
- Your doctor will order a CT scan of your spine in preparation for your surgery.
- SpineAssist software will upload the CT scan to allow your surgeon to plan your surgery and implant placement prior to your operation.
The Day of Your Surgery
- Once ready for the operation, you will be put under anesthesia
- Two X-Ray (fluoroscopic) images of your spine will be taken: One from the back and one from the side.
- These pictures will now be merged together by the SpineAssist software with your previous CT scans to form a 3-D model of your spine.
Using the SpineAssist to Place Implants
during Surgery
- Your surgeon will attach a small device to your back, which will serve as the platform for the SpineAssist miniature device and precise placement of your implants.
- The SpineAssist Device, when activated and controlled by your doctor, will use the 3-D model it has created and move its arm to the designated location your doctor has planned.
- The SpineAssist Device will hold this exact location, planned by your doctor, until your doctor has placed the implant using the SpineAssist arm to direct the surgical tools.
- This process is repeated until all implants have been put into place. The device is then detached.
The SpineAssist aids your doctor in more accurately placing the implants during your surgery. In addition, the SpineAssist has the potential to greatly reduce the exposure to X-Ray radiation during the surgery and the post-operative trauma related to larger incisions.
The SpineAssist - An Adviser to the Surgeon
The SpineAssist was designed to provide surgeons with more precise and reliable positioning of surgical tools within the spine vertebrae. In no way does the SpineAssist replace the surgeon. All decisions during the procedure are to be made solely by the surgeon. At any stage during surgery, the surgeon may reject the SpineAssist's counsel and continue the surgery using methods, procedures and devices of the surgeon's choosing. The surgeon should and must reject the advice of the SpineAssist if the surgeon believes, in his/her professional judgment that such course of action is in the best interest of the patient.
You should know that the SpineAssist technology is not capable, designed or meant to alter, replace, modify, override or substitute for, in any way, the clinical and medical judgment, professional assessment and practical common sense necessarily used by the surgeon who performs the surgery. The SpineAssist has been developed solely as an advisory system with the inherent and common limitations of advisory systems.
Introduction
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SpineAssist FAQ