Faster, Safer, and More Personalized Surgeries

The main focus of orthopedic surgeries today is faster surgeries, improved outcomes, and satisfied patients. However, many things stand in the way of achieving this goal.

Surgeons, hospitals, ASCs, and medical device companies trying to optimize and enhance the surgical flow hit roadblocks like:

• Technologies that operate in silos: Pre-op surgical planning tools may not communicate with 3D-printing software or intra-op technologies like surgical robots or navigation systems. Data from wearables may not be used to improve decision-making in pre-op planning. 

• Outdated or obsolete legacy systems: Technology in a hospital, ASC, or medical device company may not always be updated or relevant. It is still being used because of the hassle of finding qualified vendors, evaluating new technology, and testing and implementing them. 

• Not having a bird’s eye view of the entire flow: Each part of the surgical process may work on achieving efficiencies. But without keeping the big picture in mind, improvements will be incremental, without a system-wide impact. 

We need an open, curated ecosystem of surgical technologies driven by artificial intelligence to personalize and streamline the entire clinical workflow.

This is achieved by connecting the five foundational components of a surgical workflow through artificial intelligence.

The 5 Components Of An Intelligent Surgery Ecosystem

Here is an overview of the 5 components of an intelligent surgery ecosystem. Enhancing each area can help achieve faster, safer, and more personalized surgeries. 

Plan

Orthopedic surgeons are incredibly skilled at envisioning the intraoperative approach in their mind's eye. But in the near future, each surgeon will need to manage over one thousand cases each year. The pure volume of surgeries will reduce the time the surgeon has for planning and make it nearly impossible to keep track of every case.  An AI ecosystem helps improve efficiency and accuracy in the surgical planning process.

Print

Today, medical device companies are stacking engineers and operations resources to perform dozens of manual steps to design and process a medical device. This leads to a less efficient process than the mass production they are used to. The more of these steps that can be automated, the faster the process and less expensive it becomes. This makes it more appealing to patients, surgeons, and hospitals worldwide. Connecting artificial intelligence into powerful workflow solutions will allow for broader use of patient-specific implants and instruments.  

Deliver

Global supply chains are facing massive disruptions. Companies face higher costs from raw materials, labor, and logistics. To thrive in the competitive medical device market, companies need to reimagine their supply chains. AI-powered supply chain solutions can transform and streamline inventory management.  This brings all the right components into the operating room at a fraction of the cost.  

Implant

Incredible innovations are transforming how surgeries are performed. Surgical robots, AR, and more aim to improve intraoperative accuracy. But right now, these technologies operate in silos, and the data from the case is not captured and is under-utilized. This adds time, costs, and resources to previously streamlined orthopedic procedures. Connecting these innovations through an intelligent surgery ecosystem can unlock the true potential of these enabling technologies.  

Learn

We have a tremendous opportunity to use postoperative data to improve patient satisfaction and outcomes. Apart from traditional data, like postop X-rays and the EHR, there is a new world of data coming from intelligent implants,  instruments, and wearables. Unfortunately, these sources remain disconnected. To unleash the true power of this data, we need a connected, intelligent ecosystem to gain deeper insights. The future is about learning how to improve implants and surgical accuracy. We will always have an exciting new chapter to uncover as technologies continue to advance. 

Open, intelligent surgical ecosystems will deliver a universe of innovation to enhance the future of surgery. Enhatch’s ecosystem will open a network of opportunities to smaller, more nimble startups and mid-size companies to compete at a national and global scale. We will leverage scale to deliver enabling technology around the world, efficiently.

 Get in touch to learn more and find out how to join the intelligent surgery ecosystem.