Knee and hip replacements are among the most commonly performed orthopaedic procedures in the U.S., with over 2 million surgeries performed between 2012 and 2020. For patients in and around Manitowoc and Sheboygan counties, Froedtert Holy Family Memorial Hospital, part of the Froedtert & MCW health network, has long been a leader in providing state-of-the-art care.

Holy Family Memorial teams are skilled at treating a full range of orthopaedic injuries and conditions, from hands and feet to shoulders and spine. New to the team is orthopaedic surgeon Robert Limoni, MD, who has spent more than 20 years addressing the pain and mobility issues associated with joint disease.

Dr. Limoni has helped develop surgical positioning devices for hip and knee surgery and was an early adopter of robotic-assisted surgical systems. He is now one of the first physicians in the U.S. to use a new technology called ARVIS®, which stands for Augmented Reality Visualization and Information System. With this technology, created by Insight Medical Systems, the surgeon wears a headset that provides a computerized navigational assist during the surgery.

“We are always seeking improved accuracy in surgeries to optimize the chance that patients do well,” Dr. Limoni said. “Current robotic systems require a fairly expensive and large tool that takes up a significant amount of space in the operating room and generally requires the presence of a technician to enter data into it. The advantage of augmented reality is that it is a small headset completely controlled by the surgeon, and it is much less expensive to use.”

Augmented reality also offers surgeons a more consistent line of sight to the surgical site.

“One of the things I say to colleagues in the operating room is, ‘Keep your eye on the prize,’” he said. “Anytime you have to move your eyes from the anatomy to a screen, you risk missing something. Augmented reality adds a level of safety to these procedures.”

Dr. Limoni is looking forward to seeing augmented reality became a standard surgical tool at Holy Family Memorial.

“We have a long history of bringing clinical firsts to the region with hip and knee replacement and are excited to combine our prior experience with access to the academic-based medicine of the Froedtert & MCW health network.”