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Treasure Coast Medical Report
MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY
ROBOTICS EASING PAIN
OF SPINE SURGERY
The first Renaissance robotic surgery system on
the Treasure Coast is helping doctors perform
minimally invasive surgery to correct brain
and spine injuries.
Working from Lawnwood Regional Medical
Center and Heart Institute in Fort Pierce, doctors from the
University of South Florida’s Department of Neurosurgery
are giving patients the very best outcomes with minimal
pain afterward.
Before the Mazor Robotic system, which is manufactured
in Israel, surgeons would open up a patient with an incision
as long as eight inches to see the spine and determine what
to do next. Using Renaissance technology, doctors make a
virtual game plan for the patient’s spine from CT scans and
overlay it for the operation with only a one-inch incision.
The difference between the new procedure and the old is
two days of post-op care versus 10, and six weeks to get back
to work versus three months. Since there is far less pain in the
post-operative period, this surgery allows patients to avoid
powerful, addictive painkillers.
There are less than 40 of the $1 million robotic systems in
the country, but that will change as more doctors learn the
technique. Mazor boasts of accuracy in surgery of up to 1.5
millimeters. The surgeries are mapped out in advance before
doctors guide the robot through the operation, which can
include pedicle screws for short and long fusions in the spine.
A very powerful 3-D microscope allows the doctor to steer
through the surgery. During a recent photo shoot, people
came in and whisked away the machine for someone who
needed it right away.
“In the next few decades you will see a revolution in spine
surgery,” said Dr. Oszkar Szentirmai, assistant USF profes-
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BY GREG GARDNER
GREG GARDNER PHOTOS
Dr. Oszkar Szentirmai shows the clarity of the electron microscope used for surgery at Lawnwood Regional Medical Center and Heart Institute as it magnifies
his wedding ring on a large monitor. Szentirmai, an assistant professor at the University of South Florida’s Department of Neurosurgery, specializes
in cranial, nerve and spinal surgery.