MAKO Uses SolidWorks Software for Minimally Invasive Surgery Alternative

More than 1 million stiff and aching knees worldwide get replaced every year, many of which are now candidates for a breakthrough, minimally invasive knee surgery option called MAKOplasty®. All of the procedure's key components — including a robotic arm and minimally-invasive resurfacing knee implants — were designed in SolidWorks® 3D CAD software.

Based on more than 200 licensed or owned patent applications and patents, MAKOplasty enables orthopedic surgeons to treat patient-specific, early- to mid-stage osteoarthritic knee disease with consistent, reproducible precision. The procedure employs the MAKO Tactile Guidance System™ (TGS), a proprietary, Food and Drug Administration-cleared surgeon-interactive robotic arm system that controls surgeons' movements through the use of tactile resistance technology. Computer-generated virtual surfaces guide surgeons and the robotic arm along their planned path and focus cutting on patient-specific 3-D visualizations, based on pre-operative imaging. The surgeon can confidently make complex tissue-sparing and bone-conserving cuts. Any necessary adjustments can be made during the operation, and patients stand to recover faster.

The Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based MAKO Surgical Corp. used SolidWorks software to design the TGS, which uses proprietary cable-drives instead of gears to make the robotic arm extremely human-interactive, enabling very high-fidelity tactile response. Knee replacement doesn't have to be 'total'

"The implants and instruments benefit from SolidWorks' rapidly improving surfacing capabilities, and the TGS design benefits from SolidWorks' large assembly and motion simulation capabilities," said MAKO CTO, Senior Vice-president and Co-founder Rony Abovitz. "We also use SolidWorks to design the virtual volumes — the safe cutting zones, if you will — that guide the surgeon in reshaping patients' bone surfaces prior to implanting. SolidWorks handles all of these jobs well, and the software is easy for our engineers to learn no matter what platform they've learned on."

The MAKOplasty design effort has been under way since 1997, tracing its surgical navigation and medical robotics roots to a wide range of licensed and internally developed technologies, notably the MIT Artificial Intelligence (AI) Lab, NorthwesternUniversity's Lab for Intelligent Machines, and The Cleveland Clinic. One of the original seats of SolidWorks was used by William Townsend, CEO of Barrett Technology and the co-inventor of core cable-drive robot technologies (WAM™ arm) at the MIT AI Lab.

"Bill Townsend introduced me to SolidWorks co-founder Jon Hirschtick in the late 1990s — the two had been friends for some time. Since the introduction, we have had a long connection and affinity with SolidWorks — the karma is good, and the results we have produced to date with it have been great," said Abovitz.

SolidWorks vice president of Worldwide Marketing and Strategy Rainer Gawlick said, "MAKOplasty represents a substantial leap in the state of the art, one that stands to benefit a vast and rapidly growing population. It will be interesting to see patients benefit and the company gradually expand its range of robotic arm-assisted procedures."

MAKO Surgical relies on authorized SolidWorks reseller The SolidExperts for ongoing software training, implementation and support.

Source: MAKO Surgical Corp.