RETIRED Tamworth farmer Elsa Bianco found it "hard to walk and hard to turn without a lot of pain".

But that was before the surgery.

Within hours of having a knee replacement on Wednesday, she was up and walking. And it was all thanks to a revolutionary new robot.

Ms Bianco was one of the first patients to access Tamworth's first orthopaedic surgical robot.

"I was awake during the surgery the whole time and the process was better than I thought it would be," the 80-year-old said on Thursday, September 4.

The robotic technology is only available in the region at Tamara Private Hospital, in Dean Street.

About 20 patients have undergone orthopaedic surgery under the robot, used by surgeon Max Leibenson.

"The robotic system allows us to personalise each procedure to the patient's unique

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