Starting with questions from the clinic
Medical technology often begins with small questions that arise in clinical care. Could we compare an earlier image with today's image more easily? If measuring leg angles took less time, could we spend more time explaining the findings to patients? Could a finding from research be used when seeing the next patient? Recurring difficulties for doctors and patients help us identify research questions. These concerns also motivated the founding of CONNECTEVE. Drawing on clinical experience, I work with experts from several fields to identify needs and develop solutions.
Repeated measurements and patient explanations
Even reading a single orthopedic image involves several steps. We look for disease, examine the shape of the bones and joints, and measure the relevant angles and distances. If surgery is being considered, we also plan what to correct and how. The measurement method may be the same, but the treatment choice differs between patients. Technology that assists with repeated tasks can give doctors more time to discuss symptoms, activity levels, and treatment benefits and drawbacks. To do this, the tool must fit actual clinical care. Even a good algorithm is difficult to use if clinicians must move through several complex screens or rewrite the results by hand.
Validation after a paper is published
Publication does not finish the work. We need to check whether a method that performed well in the research data also works on images from other hospitals. Clinicians must be able to recognize and correct unusual results. Patient information must be handled securely, and the necessary medical-device validation and regulatory authorization for the intended use must be completed. A display that developers find familiar may be difficult for patients to understand. An attractive image may still hide information the doctor needs. Accuracy, usability, and explanations all need review before a technology can serve clinical care. This work requires doctors, engineers, designers, and people who will use the tool.
Connecting consultations, surgery, and recovery
Another important direction is to use the alignment and joint findings from the consultation in surgical planning, record what was actually done in surgery, and examine the relationship with subsequent recovery. This allows more specific research into which operations suit which patients and where differences between the plan and the outcome arise. At CONNECTEVE, we aim to implement these connections through software and surgical robotics. Connecting information alone does not establish better treatment outcomes. It must be followed by analysis and research that checks whether patients actually benefit.
Responsibilities as a doctor and an entrepreneur
Seeing patients as a doctor and running a company involve different responsibilities. In clinical care, each patient's condition and choices require careful attention. In a company, products must be built and maintained for use across hospitals. The two roles meet when research is applied to patient care, but product descriptions and evidence of treatment benefit need to be explained separately. I also distinguish what can be done today from what still needs validation. Through papers and patient articles on this website, I will explain what we studied, what we found, and how these findings can be understood in clinical care.