Point-of-care solutions are enhancing orthopedic surgical planning and execution in today's evolving healthcare landscape. We interviewed Alex Cusick, our R&D Project Manager at Enhatch, for his take on point-of-care solutions in orthopedics. Alex shared insights on how point-of-care technology advances orthopedic care during our conversation.

About Alex Cusick

Alex Cusick is a Project Manager in the R&D team at Enhatch and has been a key part of several successful deployments of Enhatch's planning portal. Prior to Enhatch, Alex worked as a biomedical engineer at 3D Systems Medical Modeling and Restor3d.  He brings over a decade of experience in biomedical engineering and personalized surgical planning. His work has spanned the full spectrum of the patient-specific instrument workflow, including medical image segmentation and surgical simulation to guide design and 3D-printability validation. Alex has contributed to clinical applications, product development, and point-of-care solutions across a wide range of anatomies.

Q: What are some key considerations for adopting point-of-care solutions like 3D anatomical models in orthopedics?

Alex: When hospitals consider bringing 3D anatomical modeling in-house, the first major advantage is control over turnaround times. Having everything under one roof means you're not waiting on external vendors or dealing with shipping delays. You can create these models and print them directly onsite at the hospital, which makes you much less vulnerable to supply chain disruptions.

The precision aspect is equally important. These 3D models allow surgeons to prepare for surgery in ways that weren't possible before, especially for complex cases. They can physically handle a replica of the patient's anatomy before ever making an incision, which can potentially translate to better outcomes. Additionally, 3D anatomical modeling allows the clinician to analyze relevant surgical structures without constraints critical to minimally invasive operations.

The efficiency gains are substantial too. Studies investigating 3D-printed anatomical models in orthopedics and maxillofacial surgery have shown an average time saving of about 62 minutes per case. That's significant when you consider the cost of operating room time and the strain on surgical teams.

What I find most compelling is how these advantages compound. With reduced turnaround times and improved efficiency, hospitals can actually scale their patient-specific solution offerings. This means more patients can benefit from personalized care, which ultimately enhances the overall patient experience and satisfaction.

Q: What are the benefits of having a 3D lab onsite with an easy-to-use 3D planning solution?

Alex: The greatest benefit is the streamlined workflow. When your 3D lab is right there in your facility with an intuitive planning solution, you eliminate so many communication barriers and delays that can occur when working with multiple stakeholders.

Surgeon review and feedback become immediate. If something needs adjustment, it can happen right away rather than going through multiple rounds of back-and-forth communication. This quick iteration process is invaluable, especially when dealing with complex cases that might require several refinements.

The learning curve for adoption is also much smoother when you have a user-friendly preoperative planning solution. An intuitive and easy to use platform means surgeons and their teams can become proficient and efficient with the technology faster. Historically, adoption has been hindered by the technical challenges of learning CAD-based operations key to going from medical imaging to modeling.

All of this adds up to a more cohesive process that leads to better coordination among the care team.

Q: How have personalized solutions like anatomical models and patient-specific cutting guides helped with more complex orthopedic oncology cases?

Alex: Orthopedic oncology presents unique challenges that truly showcase the value of personalized solutions. These cases often involve complex anatomy and critical structures where precision is absolutely essential.

Patient-specific solutions such as 3D anatomical models give surgeons enhanced insight into individual anatomy before entering the operating room. This improved understanding can significantly enhance surgical planning, particularly for tumor resections where precise margins are essential. 3D analysis of these pathologies enables clear visualization of planned tumor resection margins and reveals the downstream implications of different surgical resection choices.

The removal of osteosarcoma tumors is exceptionally challenging due to their variable locations and intricate relationships with surrounding tissues. Research demonstrates that patient-specific guides for osteosarcoma procedures can effectively reduce blood loss during surgery. These specialized guides also help decrease overall operation duration, offering tangible benefits to both patients and surgical team.

I can share a concrete example from our work at Enhatch. We were involved with a point-of-care solution at a US hospital for a 10-year-old patient diagnosed with osteosarcoma. This case was especially challenging because the tumor margins had to be exceptionally accurate. The allograft used for planning was actually an adult tibia, so alignment to the patient's bone was difficult. Additionally, since the patient was so young,  the proximal angle placement of cutting guides had to be carefully adjusted to preserve the physis and as much bone as possible.

Our planning portal facilitated seamless collaboration between all teams involved. It ensured efficiency and precision throughout the entire process, from generating the 3D anatomical model to designing the final cutting guide. I'm happy to say the surgery was successful, which is the ultimate measure of these technologies.

Q: What role can technologies like artificial intelligence play in point-of-care orthopedics?

Alex: AI is truly transformative for point-of-care solutions in orthopedics. One of the most immediate applications is in streamlining the creation of 3D anatomical models. Traditional segmentation processes can be quite time-consuming and require specialized expertise. AI can generate these models more efficiently and accurately, which helps hospitals overcome one of the biggest hurdles to adoption.

Beyond model creation, AI is enabling more predictive elements in surgical planning. For instance, algorithms can analyze thousands of previous cases to help predict optimal implant positioning or identify potential complications before they arise. This kind of predictive capability is especially valuable in complex cases where the biomechanics are intricate.

AI can also potentially support clinical decision-making by providing surgeons with relevant data from similar cases. This helps standardize approaches while still allowing for the personalization needed for each patient's unique anatomy.

The most exciting aspect is how AI enables scalability. As these systems become more sophisticated, hospitals can handle more complex cases and a higher volume of patients without sacrificing quality or personalization.

Q: As we look to the future of point of care 3D printing, what can we expect?

Alex: Material advancements will undoubtedly play a significant role in the evolution of point of care 3D printing. For example, 3D Systems, a leading additive manufacturing company, recently reported that Salzburg University Hospital successfully performed a cranioplasty using a 3D printed PEEK cranial plate for a 55-year-old computer scientist. The hospital leveraged additive manufacturing technologies for point-of-care 3D printing from 3D Systems to develop this customized skull implant.

AI is rapidly becoming an integral component of preoperative planning, driving meaningful efficiencies throughout the surgical workflow. With orthopedic surgeons facing increased workloads and growing demand for patient-specific solutions, efficiency has emerged as a critical factor in modern healthcare delivery.

Workflow optimization stands as a key consideration for hospitals. As medical centers strive to reduce turnaround times for patient-specific solutions while scaling their offerings, optimizing workflows becomes essential. This is precisely where the right 3D planning solution can make a tremendous difference. Effective planning platforms can be seamlessly adapted to a hospital's existing processes and team structure, support multiple products and configurations, and leverage cutting-edge technologies to enable true scalability.

Lastly, we're witnessing accelerated adoption of point-of-care solutions across U.S. hospitals. The number of hospitals implementing centralized 3D printing for point-of-care manufacturing has grown rapidly. We can reasonably expect this figure to increase substantially by 2030 as the technology continues to advance.