Live joint preservation surgery from the Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust (GSTT) theatres will be broadcast to Future Surgery 2022 using the latest technology provided by Proximie.
Renowned Consultant Orthopaedic & Specialist Knee Surgeon, Mr Raghbir Singh Khakha will perform modern techniques in knee joint preservation surgery, which is used in active patients who have osteoarthritis.
The surgery will be live streamed onto the ABHI Surgical Simulation at the exhibition via Proximie – a technology platform that allows clinicians to virtually ‘scrub in’ to any operating room or cath lab from anywhere in the world.
The session will take place on day 2 of Future Surgery (Wednesday 16th November at 11:20) and will mark the launch of the hospital’s Virtual Visiting Professional Programme – a unique educational experience that allows visitors, anywhere in the world, to observe the hospital’s leading robotics team in its clinical settings.
A high tibial osteotomy is a minimally invasive procedure that realigns the knee joint. For some patients with knee arthritis – a condition marked by progressive decline – the surgery can delay or prevent the need for a partial or total knee replacement by preserving damaged joint tissue.
Speaking about the procedure Mr Raghbir Singh Khakha said: “Joint preservation is the hottest topic in knee surgery at the moment and surgeons and trainees are keen to learn about the latest techniques on how this is performed. Traditionally this has been a difficult procedure to perform with large incisions and challenging technical elements as well as a long recovery. With recent advances, it is becoming a safe and reproducible procedure with excellent long-term outcomes. We look forward to broadcasting the surgery live to this year’s Future Surgery.”
Guy’s and St Thomas’ are dedicated to broadening international professionals’ clinical expertise and enabling them to observe new skills that can be transferred back to their workplace without the need to travel to London.
Working with Proximie, the Virtual Visiting Professional Programme will help provide surgeons, assistants and surgical care practitioners with the opportunity to experience and learn from a multi-disciplinary robotics team no matter where they are based in the world.
The platform allows viewers to experience the surgery as if they were in the operating room, as well as giving them access to all cases via a library that they can go back to review and analyse. Through the technology, users can speak, chat, and annotate, as well as see up to four views from the surgical site, alongside models, X-Rays, and operating room contextual views.
Each placement will be tailored to the learning needs of the observer and can range from broadly generic to highly specific.
Dr Nadine Hachach-Haram FRCS (Plast), BEM – CEO and Founder of Proximie, and Consultant Plastic Surgeon and Director of Clinical Innovation and Strategic Partnerships at GSTT, added: “Current challenges within healthcare risk our future workforce, training, and patient safety. Digitisation in health technology, layered on human interaction, can substantially help to solve these issues. Proximie was built to help address these challenges, and through working with trusted partners we can achieve this so much faster. It is a very exciting partnership, and we are delighted to be able to launch it at Future Surgery.”
Taking place on 15th and 16th November at ExCeL London, Future Surgery is being run in partnership with the Royal College of Surgeons of England and features over 110 expert speakers, covering all that is new in the field of surgery. Throughout the show ABHI’s ‘Surgical Simulation Theatre’ will be replicating a fully working operating theatre.
