NTS students see robotics used in medical field by Jessika Eidson
MARYVILLE, Mo. — Students of Northwest Technical School were treated to a special class last Friday, learning from a former Spoofhound about how robotics and surgery can work together to improve medical procedures.
Javen Spire talked with students interested in the medical field last Friday about his job working for a company called Stryker, located in Portland, Oregon. Spire explained how he helps in the operating room as a MAKO product specialist, as he operates with the help of a robot, guidance module and camera.
The specialist demonstrated to the class via Skype how the robot can be used in a knee-replacement surgery. According to Spire, the robot improves a typical knee-replacement surgery by personalizing the procedure to each patient and precisely keeping cuts from straying outside of the planned area.
“This application is going to give patient-specific sizing and accuracy with our bone cuts, so we can put in our implants and take as little bone as possible,” Spire said.
Spire explained that the robot can be used to improve a number of surgeries in the future.
“There are a lot of different uses for the robot: total knee, total hip and partial hip,” Spire said. “We know that robots don’t go into an industry and leave; this is only the tip of the iceberg for robotics in the medical field. Who knows where we’re going to be 10 years from now.”
NTS instructor Bing Boettner arranged for Spire to speak to her class and praised the machine for its work.
“They used to say, ‘Well that doesn’t look like the right way.’ They had to eyeball it,” Boettner said. “Now it’s very exact, because he said the robot will actually beep if you are outside of the area.”
Spire graduated from Maryville High School in 2004, and moved on to Northwest Missouri State University where he earned a degree in business management. He said he is glad he continued his education in college, but it was personality traits that landed him the robotics job.
“You can have a diverse background; whatever college degree you have is going to be a benefit to you, but it’s not going to be required,” Spire said. “Ultimately it comes down to a lot of personality traits with this position.”
Spire said that Stryker looks for employees who are hard-working, can communicate well with others and can think on their toes. Spire said that he has had to extend his education to understand medical terminology and procedures with the robot to keep up with the surgeons he works alongside.
“The first training I did was learning all the implants,” Spire said. “I had to learn all the hip and knee systems. Then I went to robotics training and learned all about the robot: how it works, how to fix it if something happens.”
Spire wanted the students of the class to know that the field of robotics is one possibility for them to consider in the future if they have the right personality traits and willingness to learn.
Source: http://www.maryvilledailyforum.com/news/article_9980dd9c-4960-11e8-839a-77ab77ba029c.html