MADISON, Wis. -- Recent studies suggest nearly half of today's adults will suffer from osteoarthritis. The degenerative bone disease is most common in the knees, according to doctors. A new procedure called MAKOplasty has been performed at Meriter Hospital in Madison, helping partial knee surgery patients.

While the success of any surgery is ultimately up to the hands of the surgeon, doctors said robotics in the operating room has been becoming more and more essential.

Call it an orthopedic video game, or a kind of GPS for the knee. MAKOplasty has been changing the way surgeons prepare and execute partial knee replacements.

"Partial knee replacements have been around for a long time," said Dr. James Bowers, a Meriter Orthopedic Surgeon. "But what this allows is a way for you to do the partial much more accurately."

Bowers said all the imaging, all the 3D modeling, all the preparation before surgery is the key to the MAKO procedure's accuracy.

"With this software, (doctors) can make changes to the implant potentially before any burring of the bone." said MAKO technical specialist Lee Hedge.

And once doctors begin burring the bone, the robot dictates where surgeons should focus on.

"I mean, if you try to overpower it, that would be one thing." said Bowers. "But if you're just using good firm pressure, it won't allow you to go over that."

It's one thing to witness a demonstration, it's another to reap the robot's rewards.

Joe Clausius knows about the crippling effects of osteoarthritis. It's a condition he shares with his late father.

"I remember it quite vividly, because I watched him gradually give up his quality of life as the arthritis progressed on," said Clausius. "And that was one thing I knew I did not want to do."

The Madison alderperson knows a thing or two about weighing both sides. And when it comes to his knees, that's exactly what he can do. This past July, Clausius' right knee underwent a more traditional partial procedure, followed by the robotic MAKO procedure for his left knee in December. Clausius said the difference in recovery time was huge.

"I'd have to say the one I had done last summer here, that was roughly close to 6 weeks." said Clausius. "Probably this knee was 2 and a half weeks at the most."

"The morning after surgery, he could lift his leg all the way up," said Meriter orthopedic surgeon Dr. David Bartlett, who performed the partial procedures for both of Clausius' knees.

"He could bend his knee all the way back, he had full control of his leg. He then went to physical therapy, he was walking very well, even taking a few steps without crutches, just far beyond what I would've expected."

Bartlett is the one who introduced MAKO to Meriter's facilities. He said this is just the beginning of a complete revolution in orthopedics.

"There's no question, at first, you have to question the reliability of the computer and the robot." said Bartlett. "Very quickly you learn they are right on."

"To me it's just medical progress," said Clausius. "It's unbelievable what might happen in the future with this robotic surgery, applications of it."

With Clausius' procedure in December, Meriter became the first in Madison to provide MAKOplasty.

We've also learned UW hospital will be performing its first MAKO procedure later this month.