Dangerous Issue and Possible Injuries
According to the Medtronic November 2019 safety notice, the system’s internal motor drive belt loosens after an extended number of uses. When that happens, the image, or map of the patient’s anatomy, may be rotated or shifted so that it no longer matches the physical positioning of the patient.
Even the most minor of shifts of the imaging can potentially result in serious and life-threatening nerve, spine or brain injury to the patient. Because of this defect, when a surgeon begins to treat a compressed spinal disc or remove a brain tumor and uses the shifted or rotated image to orient themselves and navigate to the affected area, they could be unnecessarily cutting through a nerve or blood vessel and causing a major injury.