Acrobot and Stanmore Implants announce computer assisted surgery collaboration

MANCHESTER, UK, 26 September 2007 – The Acrobot Company Limited (Acrobot), computer-assisted surgery specialists, and Stanmore Implants Worldwide Ltd (Stanmore Implants), a world leader in limb salvage, bone tumour implants and specialised joint replacements, announced today a collaboration to develop computer assisted surgical techniques to facilitate the implantation of Stanmore’s high-value patient matched prostheses.

The collaboration, announced at the British Orthopaedic Association meeting in Manchester, will utilise Acrobot’s technology to enable enhanced accuracy in the delivery of Stanmore’s precision manufactured patient-specific prostheses. Acrobot’s technologies achieve this level of precision through 3D planning, surgical navigation and surgeon-controlled robotics. Stanmore Implants offer a custom implant service focused on developing the most advanced solutions in specialised orthopaedics.

The collaboration will involve the implementation of Acrobot’s sophisticated Computer Assistance technologies to plan and execute complex clinical cases, encompassing the use of Acrobot® Planner and Acrobot® Sculptor, enabling surgeons to accurately prepare bone for precision-fit Stanmore implants and ensuring excellent alignment to provide optimal clinical outcomes. The companies will also collaborate on the development of Acrobot’s key ‘active constraint’ robotic bone sculpting technology to enable very accurate preparation of bone services for receipt of precision-fit implants.

Commenting on the collaboration, Graeme Brookes, CEO of Acrobot, said: “The combination of our advanced surgical techniques coupled with Stanmore’s innovative implant technologies will provide real benefits for both surgeons and patients in what are extremely demanding surgical procedures. We are very pleased to be working with Stanmore Implants on this collaboration, given their excellent pedigree and first class reputation in this field”.

Paul Unwin, Managing Director of Stanmore Implants, added: “We are renowned for our innovation in the area of patient specific implants and are delighted that we are now working with Acrobot to bring the latest technologies to bear in the operating theatre”.

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For more information please contact:

At Acrobot      
Graeme Brookes, CEO                                                           
The Acrobot Company Ltd
+44 (0) 20 7403 5866
Unit 13.3.2 The Leathermarket
Weston Street
London
SE1 3ER

At Stanmore Implants
Paul Unwin, Managing Director
Stanmore Implants Worldwide Ltd
+44 (0) 20 8420 7231
Centre for Biomedical Engineering
Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital
Brockley Hill
Stanmore
Middlesex
HA7 4LP

At Northbank Communications
Tony Stephenson, Account Manager
Holly Griffiths, Account Executive
Tristan Jervis, Account Director
Northbank Communications
+44 (0) 20 7268 3002 or +44 (0) 20 7268 3249
t.stephenson@northbankcommunications.com 







Notes to Editors



About Acrobot



Acrobot’s products and services centre on the application of computer science, mechanical, electrical, and electronics engineering disciplines to surgery. The technology and the derived medical devices are intended to assist surgical staff, enabling new procedures to be performed and existing procedures to be carried out to a higher level of accuracy without reducing productivity. Acrobot’s portfolio includes Acrobot® Planner, which offers pre-operative surgical planning and visualisation software; the Acrobot® Navigation System, which provides computer-assistance by tracking the spatial locations of tools and patient and depicting them against a pre-operative plan on a computer screen to be used by the surgeon as guidance; and the Acrobot® Sculptor™ Robotic System, a motorised programmable device which uses ‘active constraint’ to prevent a surgeon accidentally moving outside a specified area. These systems will also be further developed to assist in minimally-invasive orthopaedic surgery.



www.acrobot.co.uk