In recent years, cutting-edge technologies such as the Internet, big data, and artificial intelligence have gradually penetrated into all aspects of orthopedic medicine, promoting the birth and evolution of new orthopedics in the new era, and also giving traditional orthopedics new concepts and new methods. connotation, new scope, new diagnosis and treatment methods and rehabilitation models. These will have a profound impact on both orthopedic surgeons and orthopedic patients.
Common orthopedic diseases have changed
Orthopedics is a discipline that specializes in studying the musculoskeletal system and treating injuries of this system. With the changes of the times, society and the continuous emergence of new technologies, the injury spectrum of the orthopedic system has changed significantly.
Bone and joint tuberculosis, osteomyelitis, poliomyelitis and other diseases have been significantly reduced, while trauma caused by traffic accidents has increased significantly; with the increase in the proportion of the elderly population in society, fractures and joint diseases caused by senile osteoporosis have increased year by year. Increased; affected by environmental factors, bone tumors and rheumatoid arthritis increased accordingly.
At the same time, the diagnosis and treatment technology of orthopedics has also undergone important changes in recent decades. Minimally invasive technology, new material applications, regenerative technology, navigation technology, robotic technology, etc. have effectively promoted the rapid development of the discipline.
New interdisciplinary discipline: digital orthopedics
The combination of computer science and orthopedics forms an emerging interdisciplinary discipline - digital orthopedics, which involves human anatomy, solid geometry, biomechanics, Knowledge in fields such as materials science, informatics, electronics and mechanical engineering. Specifically include: orthopedic finite element analysis, orthopedic digital anatomy (three-dimensional reconstruction), orthopedic virtual simulation surgery, orthopedic rapid prototyping technology, orthopedic reverse engineering technology, computer-aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM) technology, preoperative planning, computer-aided orthopedics Navigation surgery, orthopedic remote surgery and orthopedic robotic surgery, etc.
These new technologies have gradually been widely used in various subspecialties of orthopedics. New theories and new technologies have given rise to changes in the division of clinical specialties, making them more reasonable and efficient.
In fact, some relatively mature artificial intelligence and related technologies (including intelligent computer software and mechanical and electronic equipment) have begun to enter or explore clinical applications, such as computer-aided detection, auxiliary diagnosis systems, Wearable devices and remote sensing telemetry systems, bioinformatics technology, etc.
In addition, a large number of new modern medical technologies based on computer or IT technology are constantly entering clinical use, such as genetic diagnosis and gene manipulation technology, biomedical engineering technology, and new drug synthesis technology (including the design and development of drug molecules). manufacturing), 3D printing technology, AR/VR/MR technology, etc.
From the perspective of the history of medical development, scientific and technological progress and the use of new tools often lead to technological progress and even technological revolution, forming new disciplines and even new business formats, thus promoting the development of productivity. Against the background that the incidence of orthopedic diseases is gradually increasing globally, precision treatment is the future direction of orthopedic surgery.
Artificial intelligence: Injecting vitality into orthopedics
Artificial intelligence has learning and innovation capabilities comparable to humans. It can achieve reasoning and decision-making capabilities through neural network systems, software algorithms, etc., and can be applied in many clinical situations.
The examination of medical imaging data is closely related to the diagnosis of orthopedic diseases. Clinicians have to interpret optical images such as CT, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and X-rays of a large number of patients, which greatly tests human beings. intelligence and physical strength. Nowadays, the reading results of image-reading robots have reached professional and technical standards, and the image-reading speed is faster than that of humans. Artificial intelligence can apply image recognition technology and massive experience data technology to assist orthopedic surgeons in auxiliary processing by learning empirical knowledge, improve the work efficiency of orthopedic surgeons, and can reduce misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis of certain diseases.
Just as the learning ability of artificial intelligence assists orthopedic surgeons, the learning ability of artificial intelligence can also assist orthopedic nursing staff. By centrally summarizing nursing knowledge, nursing cases and nursing experience into the artificial intelligence system, orthopedic patient care big data can be established.
When a new patient is admitted to the ward and the new patient's case characteristics are input, artificial intelligence can quickly recommend the best care plan to the nursing staff.
In addition, the nursing model in the new era needs to gradually achieve precision nursing, which has brought greater work pressure to medical staff. Applying robots to hospital environments can effectively assist nursing staff in performing part of their work, freeing them from tedious and single tasks so that they can better serve patients. For example, dietary care robots, object delivery robots, patient handling robots, etc. will increasingly be used in clinical work.
Orthopedic robots: a good helper in the operating room
At present, orthopedic robots have been widely used in spine surgery, knee replacement, hip replacement and other surgeries. Many domestic universities, scholars, and companies have conducted a series of explorations into the industrialization of smart orthopedics. Domestic orthopedic surgical robots have successfully achieved follow-up and parallel running in the automatic navigation technology for difficult orthopedic surgeries, and are gradually moving forward. Towards the lead.
In summary, the new technological revolution has brought new impacts and new revolutions to traditional disciplines, which will inevitably transform and recreate new discipline chains; the new technological revolution will inevitably reshape and interpret new disciplines in the new era. New Orthopedics adapts to the wave of new technological revolutions and promotes the discipline to always be at the forefront of scientific and technological development.
In order to support the high-quality development of the health industry, the "Medical Vision" column will focus on advanced concepts and excellent practices in various fields of medicine, create a high-end doctor think tank, capture innovation highlights, condense development ideas, and improve governance capabilities .
Planning: Fang Tong
Author: Pei Guoxian, Dean of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Southern University of Science and Technology