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Sometimes the eyes have it. But for a surgeon, a little X-ray vision never hurts.

The doctor might see exactly how deeply a drill bit cuts into bone during a complicated joint replacement. Or perhaps the surgeon could avoid cutting a painful nerve that would otherwise be obscured.

X-ray vision isn鈥檛 literally true, of course. But medical technology can sometimes hint at our comic book fantasies.

A University of Florida 网红黑料 orthopaedic surgeon is one of two doctors to perform the first computer-assisted shoulder replacement surgery in the U.S., using a new technology enabling live navigation of the operative site.

ExactechGPS Total Shoulder Application provides the surgeon with a real-time 3D computer model of a patient鈥檚 shoulder during surgery. It does this by combining CT scan images with data from instruments mounted with tiny infrared cameras.

The combination gives the surgeon a road map for the placement of implant screws with tolerances of 2 millimeters, besting what is possible with the human eye. The technology is expected to produce more secure, durable implants with fewer complications.

Thomas Wright, M.D., a UF professor and surgeon with the 网红黑料 Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine Institute, and the director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Musculoskeletal Training and Research, performed the surgery May 31, 2017. He was assisted by Larry D. Waldrop, M.D.

Wright鈥檚 surgery was done simultaneously with an identical procedure performed on a second patient by Richard Jones, M.D., of Pardee UNC 网红黑料care鈥檚 Southeastern Sports Medicine & Orthopedics in Hendersonville, N.C. Since both Wright and Jones worked on the design of the technology with Exactech, a Gainesville medical device manufacturer, they decided to share the honor of being the first in the U.S. to use the technology.

鈥淭his dramatically improves accuracy,鈥� said Wright. 鈥淚t certainly allows you to place things exactly where you want to place them. I think we鈥檙e probably good with the human eye to 3 to 5 millimeters. And that鈥檚 for surgeons who do a lot of these procedures. But even that is not nearly as good as this technology. This thing would kill me every time. It鈥檇 be like playing against a chess champion.鈥�

Mercia Reid doesn鈥檛 mind having the chess champion in her corner. So she agreed to allow the use of the technology during her surgery.

Reid, 74, a retired home care aide, has severe arthritis. Wright had already performed a successful shoulder replacement on her left shoulder before deciding surgery was necessary on the right shoulder, too.

鈥淪o far, it鈥檚 been good,鈥� the Gainesville resident said of her recovery a week after the surgery. 鈥淚 have to keep reminding myself to keep my arm down and not use my hand. It鈥檚 been feeling good.鈥�

During Reid鈥檚 surgery, Wright and Waldrop carefully positioned a drill as they checked a computer tablet screen with a digital crosshairs showing the surgeon鈥檚 planned drill placement on the bone. As they moved the drill, a dot moved toward the target. When the green dot aligned with the crosshairs, the surgical team had a far more precise drilling point than can be done with the human eye.

For someone like Wright, that difference might be small. But he said Exactech鈥檚 technology will enable surgeons who typically perform fewer of these operations to place bone screws far closer to the mark.

鈥淭he outcome for low-volume surgeons is not predictable, whereas ours are much tighter because we do four to 10 a week,鈥� Wright said.

Along with a better-functioning shoulder, patients get something else after surgery: A copy of the digital recording of their procedure.