London, UK – March 25, 2022 – Seymourpowell, a leading design and innovation company, together with British medical start-up, Axis Spine Technologies, today announced a virtual reality (VR) solution which allows surgeons to evaluate and develop spinal implants virtually before making physical prototypes. Medical teams can collaborate more effectively, while also reducing costs and material waste.
Seymourpowell and Axis developed a modular system that surgeons can use to assemble a bespoke implant for each individual patient. The assembled implants consist of three customisable components, meaning a relatively small inventory of each can combine to create the ideal implant for any patient, compared to currently available technologies. Modularity gives surgeons choice to intra-operatively select the best implant for the patient.
VR was fully embraced during the implant design process. From kick-off, digital twins of the implant and instrumentation concepts were built. These were developed, evaluated and tested within a Seymourpowell-designed and coded VR platform.
Nick Sandham, Associate Director at Seymourpowell: “We conceived the implant not only from a functional standpoint, but a logistical and emotional perspective too. While modularity is a great enabler for bespoke patient solutions, we had to be mindful not to alienate surgeons with unfamiliarity, or healthcare institutions with complexity. On the contrary, we took great care to develop an elegant solution to make surgery simpler, safer, and more streamlined for everybody involved.”
