| Categories: Interviews
(Originally written by Rebecca Rudolph, editor at SurgicalProductsMag.com) - Dr. Peter Ramsey, an orthopedic surgeon in South Carolina, said he tried almost everything to efficiently achieve accurate results during total hip arthroplasty procedures. He found that the overlay method of overlapping two x-ray images was cumbersome and logistically difficult, using a rod across the base of the pelvis was “crude” and image distortion in the c-arms created a learning curve. “I was able to compensate for that with my experience and still get a good result, but I was ;still forced to think and compensate for the tools that I had at my disposal, instead of the tools helping me,” he said.
As Ramsey became more involved with teaching the direct anterior hip replacement, he began discussing these challenges with other surgeons. One of his colleagues showed him a tool they were just starting to develop - what is now named the HipGrid™. “I am always looking for simple, elegant solutions, and I thought it was a nice way to do that,” Ramsey said. HipGrid attaches to a standard C-arm and projects a procedure specific pattern as part of the X-ray image, which can be used during the surgery to check alignment and implant position.
“Having done a number of hips and recognizing the shortcoming of the fluoroscopy, I realize distortion is a big issue on the C-arm. Many surgeons are unaware of distortion, and the methods don't account for that,” he said. This HipGrid does. “It makes us inherently more efficient, because you do not have to, in your mind or with other tools, compensate for the limitations of the c-arm.”
“It is a very simple, but really accurate way to get reproducible results,” Ramsey added.
OrthoGrid® System’s CEO, Edouard Saget, said these results were driven by input from surgeons who published their initial findings in an industry leading journal. Most recently, OrthoGrid released its HipGrid Teardrop Vector™, which provides an assessment tool based off proven anatomical landmarks and using the symmetry of the human body to help position implants and restore leg length and hip offset. “Our business opportunity is to offer economically responsible solutions for the healthcare environment of today. Therefore we tried to create something that has maximum value,” Saget said, meaning surgeons could consistently achieve good outcomes, improve their efficiency, with the most affordable technology available in the industry.
“Surgeons and their operating room staff are really quick at picking it up,” he added, saying it normally took one or two cases to be proficient. Training includes working with the hospital’s team of radiology technologists.