MidWeek features Dr. Morton: "Utilizing Robotics in Orthopedics"

In March 2021, MidWeek published "Utilizing Robotics in Orthopedics", a feature on Dr. Paul Morton and his work bringing robotic-assisted joint replacement to patients in Hawai‘i. For a fellowship-trained hip and knee surgeon who had made precision technology the centerpiece of his practice, the piece was a chance to answer the question patients ask most: what does the robot actually do?

More Hawai‘i coverage of Dr. Morton — including his television features — lives on the videos & media page.

The robot is a precision instrument, not a decision-maker — and certainly not the surgeon. Before surgery, the patient's joint is mapped into a personalized 3D plan: implant size, position, alignment, and soft-tissue balance, all worked out before an incision exists. During surgery, the robotic platform executes that plan with sub-millimeter accuracy and gives Dr. Morton live feedback as he works.

His favorite way to explain it: think GPS and power steering for a surgeon who already knows the road. Dr. Morton performs every step of the operation — the robot makes sure the surgery he planned is exactly the surgery the patient gets.

Implant position drives nearly everything patients care about after a joint replacement:

• How natural the joint feels — alignment and soft-tissue balance determine whether a new knee or hip moves like your own.
• How long it lasts — components placed a few degrees outside the safe zone wear faster.
• Dislocation risk and leg length — in hips, a few millimeters is something patients feel with every step.

Humans are good at judgment; robots are good at millimeters. Modern joint replacement uses both — which is why Dr. Morton pairs robotic guidance with muscle-sparing surgical approaches rather than treating the technology as a marketing flourish. And because robotic assistance is simply how he operates, it bills as standard joint replacement: no technology surcharge.

Most robotic surgeons train on a single system. Dr. Morton is certified on all four major platforms — ROSA®, Mako, CORI, and VELYS — and was the first surgeon in Hawai‘i fellowship-trained in robotic joint replacement. That fluency means the technology serves the patient's anatomy and procedure, not a vendor contract or whatever machine a facility happens to own.

It also lets robotic precision travel with him across his surgical venues: The Queen's Medical Center, Adventist Health Castle, and the Hilo Community Surgery Center, where a Mako robot serves his Big Island patients. Curious how the systems differ? See the deep dives on ROSA® and Mako SmartRobotics™.

The MidWeek story caught Dr. Morton early in a run of documented Hawai‘i firsts:

• 2022 — Hawai‘i's first robotic-assisted total hip replacement, on the ROSA platform.
• March 3, 2022 — the first robotic joint replacement on Hawai‘i Island — a homecoming for the Kea‘au-raised surgeon.
• October 4, 2022 — Hawai‘i's first Persona IQ® smart knee, placed with robotic assistance.

Somewhere along the way, local media started calling him "The Robot Doc" — and today, robotic assistance is simply how every eligible hip and knee case in his practice is done.