Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas has become the first hospital west of the Rocky Mountains to perform spinal fusion surgery with the Mazor X surgical guidance system.

Currently, 11 other Mazor X systems are in clinical use in the U.S.

"Scripps Encinitas wanted to pioneer the newest technology in robotics," Dr. Neville Alleyne, orthopedic surgeon at Scripps, told HCB News. "Mazor is leading-edge robotics technology for placement of pedicle screws in spinal surgery."
Spinal fusion is a procedure that can fix abnormal vertebral motion, which can be an extremely painful condition. About 488,000 of these procedures were performed at U.S. hospital in 2011, according to a report by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Mazor X can be used to treat patients with degenerative spine conditions, scoliosis, spinal deformities, spinal stenosis, spinal injury, infections or tumors. The physicians at Scripps Encinitas are expecting to use the system for cervical and thoracic spinal fusions in the next few weeks.

"The Mazor X allows us now to get into the upper thoracic and the cervical spine with the same degree of accuracy that we can in the lumbar spine," said Alleyne.

The system has a series of integrated technologies that help surgeons develop a preoperative treatment plan, and program automated measurements and alignment calculations. It also provides intraoperative guidance and verification to ensure the personalized surgical plan is followed correctly for each patient.



Mazor X is a significant improvement to earlier generations of robotic spine surgery technology, according to the hospital. The system was commercially launched during the North American Spine Society annual meeting in Boston in October 2016.

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