Doctors from Karamay Central Hospital carried out a hip surgery with the aid of robotic navigation technology and positioning on March 14. It marks the first time that robotic surgery in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

"The surgery has filled in the blank of using robot in surgery in Xinjiang," said Li Jianming, vice director of the Osteopathic Department in Xinjiang Central Hospital.

To ensure the success of the operation, Wang Junqiang, an orthopedic expert at Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, came to provide on-site guidance and other experts of Jishuitan Hospital also gave remote support.

Li Jianming said that with the help of robots, doctors can collect data and share it among practitioners and experts in Beijing. Experts can send the operation instruction back to robots through the remote system. With the assistance of on-site doctors, the robot can perform the operation.

According to Li, the advantage of the robot operation was that it provides better stability and precise actions, decreasing the wound and incision area and reducing the amount of bleeding during operation. In addition, the X-ray time was shortened compared with traditional orthopedic surgery, to minimize the harmful effects of X-rays to medical staff.

This robotic surgery system was introduced last December and makes Karamay Central Hospital the only hospital in Xinjiang to have applied the orthopedic robot in surgery. A total of seven fracture surgeries have been successfully performed with the help of robotics in the hospital.