Surgeons performing knee replacements at the South West London Orthopaedic Centre (SWLEOC), which is based at Epsom Hospital, have a new cutting edge assistant in the operating theatre.

The new NAVIO surgical system is a robotics-assisted system, a hand-held tool attached to a computer, will help improve accuracy during knee surgery.

It uses infrared signals to produce a detailed computer model of the patient’s knee before and during the procedure.

The software also helps the surgical team to work out how the knee will move after surgery, and gives real time feedback on alignment and positioning of the implants.

Chief Executive Daniel Elkeles, who was given the chance to trial the new tool on a prosthetic femur bone, said: “The NAVIO surgical system is a fantastic piece of equipment and will have huge benefits for our patients.

“It will assist our surgeons with further improving the accuracy of placement of knee replacements, with the aim of improving their recovery. In fact, with NAVIO, we expect that patients who do not have any complications or other health conditions should be well enough to go home the day after their surgery.

“Our SWLEOC surgeons and the theatre teams are some of the best in the world, but our new NAVIO will make this process even better, and every new knee joint will be aligned to each individual.”

The system can also show the surgeon a 3D image of how much bone needs to be removed before the implant is put in and improves the overall accuracy of the position.

Professor Deiary Kader, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon and Deputy Medical Director at SWLEOC, added: “Even after performing more than 1,500 knee replacements, this technology is helping me to learn more about joint replacement.

“For the first time in my career there is an objective tool that can give me live feedback on my surgical skills.”