Robot-assisted spine surgery has been carried out successfully on 20 patients at Queen Mary Hospital since October. Researchers from the University of Hong Kong say the robot can help surgeons be more precise and accurate when placing screws, and thus reduce the risk of complications and the need for more surgery.

Professor Jason Cheung, from the University of Hong Kong's medical school, led the research team.

"I would say there are a couple of aspects that it improves," he said.

"First it of course increases patient safety. So in the past when we are doing the surgeries, where we insert the screws, they are all done by free hand, meaning that it is up to the surgeons' experience to identify where the correct position is for the screws...

"Secondly, it helps the surgeon with the overall process of the surgery. Surgeons no longer need to be completely concentrated to put screws in accurately. They can actually put their major part of the concentration into more risky procedures, such as decompression of the nerves."

But Professor Cheung said surgeons would still remain in overall control.

"So even to this day when I am using the robot, despite it guiding me, I will still always check whether the track of the screws are correct or not. So I will always double-check myself by feel, perhaps an X-ray just to confirm whether everything is accurate," he said.

Professor Cheung said the robot didn't just help with inserting the screws. He said, prior to surgery, surgeons would take a CT scan from the patient and plan where to put the screws. The system would then match this with the plan and guide the surgeon.