Sectra has teamed up with Telemedicine Clinic (TMC) to provide teleradiology services to orthopedic customers in determining and addressing the occurrence of loose implants in patients following surgery.

TMC radiologists, in accordance with the agreement, will analyze images sent by Sectra customers through its online service, Sectra Implant Movement Analysis, to determine if an implant in a patient is loose, eliminating the need for additional surgery to understand postoperative chronic pain.

“This relates to the detection of motion of implants after patients come back with problems,” Dr. Torbjörn Kronander, CEO and president of Sectra AB, told HCB News. “Today such a test is very difficult to do, if not impossible. And also with Sectra's specially developed tools it is [required that] specially trained radiologists to perform the analysis. Large hospitals will probably purchase the system, train its radiologists and do the analysis themselves. This can be too expensive for smaller clinics.”

Patients who undergo orthopedic surgery often experience chronic pain afterward, a sign that implants may be loose or broken. The new service can detect these problems faster than conventional radiographic examinations.

Orthopedists can digitally submit two CT images through the service with radiologists using Sectra software to analyze scans to draw up and send back reports on whether or not an implant is loose.

Kronander says the agreement will help cut costs and reduce risks for patients.

“A revision is very costly and also more risky than the first operation,” he said. “If it can be avoided by better analysis, this is a huge gain for everyone involved.”

Sectra recently entered another partnership with Medical One Corporation, a provider of medical equipment in the Philippines, to provide solutions to customers in the southeast Asian country.

The service will initially be provided to orthopedic surgeons in Sweden with plans to eventually expand it to other countries.

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