LANTERN Surgical Assistant, first cases, were announced today by OrthoAlign. The cases were performed by Dr. Michael Ast, a fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, NY.
LANTERN Surgical Assistant is a compact, inertial navigation system that builds upon the clinical success of OrthAlign’s flagship technology and provides a platform for feature and application expansion. The core technology is the size of a smartphone and uses micro-electromechanical sensors such as gyroscopes and accelerometers to register patient anatomy and live-navigate instrumentation for precise implant placement. LANTERN currently supports total and unicompartmental knee arthroplasty with developing applications for total hip arthroplasty and intraoperative assessment tools such as soft tissue balancing.
“The LANTERN technology is the next generation of orthopedic navigation,” said Dr. Michael Ast. “Bringing an easy-to-use, handheld navigation technology to the operating room that delivers precise clinical outcomes is a game changer. The look and feel of this new device are state of the art and certainly created a lot of buzz in the OR. The system is intuitive, and its open platform makes the technology accessible to every orthopedic surgeon.”
In contrast to other navigation and robotic systems, LANTERN requires no upfront cost or pre-operative imaging and keeps case costs to a minimum through a reduction in trays and a single, disposable unit. Its cost-effective, portable, and open-implant design make it an ideal technology for both outpatient and inpatient settings. The hallmark of LANTERN will be in the strength of the clinical input it will provide to surgeons throughout the world, just as the KneeAlign and OrthAlign Plus systems have done for many years. The LANTERN Surgical Assistant also provides enhanced data collection capabilities and network connectivity.
“The future of orthopedic surgery is smaller and simpler,” said Eric Timko, Chairman and CEO of OrthAlign Inc. “Emerging from a pandemic with our next generation technology that delivers strong clinical results, does not decrease the efficiency of surgeons, and is cost-effective to use in both hospitals and surgery centers, is a milestone that we are very excited to accomplish. While robotics has a place in some operating rooms, the LANTERN will have a place in all operating rooms, powering our global growth for many years to come.”