Boulder Community Health Brings the Mazor X™ Stealth system to Northern Colorado

Boulder-area residents suffering from painful back conditions now have local access to an advanced surgical system that can make complex spine surgery safer and less painful.

Boulder Community Health (BCH) now offers the cutting-edge Mazor X™ Stealth robotic guidance system, which allows BCH spine surgeons to use a less-invasive approach to complex spine surgery. BCH’s Foothills Hospital is the first Colorado hospital north of Denver to offer this revolutionary technology.

Mazor X™ combines proprietary software to plan the surgical procedure, a robotic arm to precisely guide the placement of implants during complicated spine surgery, and real-time imaging feedback to ensure the procedure proceeds as planned. This higher degree of accuracy throughout the surgical procedure can provide better outcomes for patients compared to traditional spine surgery.

"Innovative surgical technology like the Mazor X™ has the power to transform patient care,” said Robert Vissers, MD, BCH President/Chief Executive Officer. “BCH has a long tradition of partnering with our surgeons to identify less invasive approaches that improve the patient experience and get people back to their active lives quicker. This is a game-changer for people who need surgery for painful spine conditions such as degenerative disc disease or a herniated disc.”

Minimally-invasive surgery is a growing trend in spine surgery. Traditional open spine surgery requires large incisions that require more muscle and tissue dissection, resulting in extended hospital stays, more pain and longer recovery times. Minimally-invasive spine surgery using Mazor X™ technology, on the other hand, allows surgeons to make smaller incisions to help guide surgical instruments more precisely during surgery.

Additional advantages of Mazor X™’s minimally-invasive approach include:

  • Improved surgical accuracy
  • Smaller incisions
  • Less risk for complications
  • Less exposure to radiation
  • Less bleeding
  • Shorter hospital stays
  • Faster recovery

"Robotic technology has already brought major improvements to hip and knee replacements and it’s poised to make a comparable impact on current and future spine surgery,” said neurosurgeon Sharad Rajpal, MD, of Boulder Neurosurgical and Spine Associates (BNA). “Mazor X™ is an amazing new tool for spine surgeons. I can use the Mazor X™ software to plan each step to be carried out during a complex spinal procedure. During surgery, I can use the Mazor X™ to direct the robotic navigational arm to the exact spot and angle for optimal placement of surgical instruments and spinal implants. That’s the kind of precision that produces safer better results for patients.”

BNA surgeons will use Mazor X™ technology to treat adult patients with a variety of spinal conditions, ranging from degenerative disc disease to scoliosis.

Mazor is the latest addition to BCH’s expanding robotic surgery program. In addition to the Mazor X™, BCH offers:

  • da Vinci Xi robotic-assisted surgery for general surgical, cardiothoracic, gynecological and urological procedures.
  • Mako robotic-arm orthopedic surgery for knee and hip replacements.

If you would like to learn more about the robotic-assisted surgery performed at BCH, please visit our Robotic-Assisted Surgery page.