Method and system for managing inventories of orthopaedic implants

Abstract

A system and method for managing inventories of orthopaedic implants includes receiving a medical image of a bone of a patient from a healthcare provider, performing a digital templating procedure on the medical image to determine an orthopaedic implant for use with the bone of the patient; transmitting the digital templated medical image to the healthcare provider, and shipping the orthopaedic implant to the healthcare provider in response to an electronic approval of the digital templated medical image received from the healthcare provider. Implant constraint data may also be received from the healthcare provider and used in determining the orthopaedic implant. In addition, a number of orthopaedic implants having a range of different sizes based on the size of the determined orthopaedic implant may be shipped to the healthcare provider. In some embodiments, the healthcare provider may perform the digital templating procedure on the medical image.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . A method for managing an inventory of orthopaedic implants at a healthcare facility, the method comprising:
 accessing, with a computing system, anatomical data associated with a patient who is scheduled for an orthopaedic surgical procedure at the healthcare facility;   accessing, with the computing system, constraint data applicable to the orthopaedic surgical procedure scheduled for the patient;   determining, with the computing system and based on the anatomical data and the constraint data, one or more recommended orthopaedic implants to have present in the inventory of orthopaedic implants at the healthcare facility during the orthopaedic surgical procedure; and   automatically performing, with the computing system, one or more actions in response to the determination of the one or more recommended orthopaedic implants to have present in the inventory of orthopaedic implants at the healthcare facility during the orthopaedic surgical procedure.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein automatically performing one or more actions with the computing system comprises generating a shipping order to ship the one or more recommended orthopaedic implants to the healthcare facility. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein automatically performing one or more actions with the computing system further comprises:
 transmitting a purchase order for the one or more recommended orthopaedic implants to the healthcare facility; and   receiving an electronic authorization of the purchase order from the healthcare facility, wherein generating the shipping order is performed by the computing system in response to receiving the electronic authorization.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein automatically performing one or more actions with the computing system comprises increasing a stock of each of the one or more recommended orthopaedic implants at a distribution facility that regularly sends orthopaedic implants to the healthcare facility. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein automatically performing one or more actions with the computing system comprises transmitting data associated with the one or more recommended orthopaedic implants to the healthcare facility. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein at least one of accessing anatomical data and accessing constraint data comprises retrieving data from a database accessible to the computing system. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein at least one of accessing anatomical data and accessing constraint data comprises receiving data over a network that communicatively couples the computing system to the healthcare facility. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein at least one of accessing anatomical data and accessing constraint data comprises receiving data input by a healthcare provider into the computing system. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the constraint data comprises data relating to a surgeon's preferences concerning orthopaedic implants to be used in the orthopaedic surgical procedure. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the data relating to the surgeon's preferences concerns one or more of type, size, parts, fixation, material, and finish of the orthopaedic implants to be used in the orthopaedic surgical procedure. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the constraint data comprises data relating to a range of acceptable orthopaedic implant sizes. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the constraint data comprises data relating to an amount of bone planned to be resected during the orthopaedic surgical procedure. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the constraint data comprises data relating to the planned location and orientation of one or more orthopaedic implants relative to one or more bones of the patient after the orthopaedic surgical procedure. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein determining the one or more recommended orthopaedic implants to have present in the inventory of orthopaedic implants at the healthcare facility during the orthopaedic surgical procedure comprises determining a range of orthopaedic implant sizes that satisfy the constraint data. 
     
     
         16 . An implant recommendation system comprising:
 circuitry configured to:
 access anatomical data associated with a patient who is scheduled for an orthopaedic surgical procedure at a healthcare facility; 
 access constraint data applicable to the orthopaedic surgical procedure scheduled for the patient; 
 determine, based on the anatomical data and the constraint data, one or more recommended orthopaedic implants to have present in an inventory of orthopaedic implants available to the healthcare facility for the orthopaedic surgical procedure; and 
 automatically perform one or more actions in response to the determination of the one or more recommended orthopaedic implants to have present in the inventory of orthopaedic implants available to the healthcare facility for the orthopaedic surgical procedure. 
   
     
     
         17 . The implant recommendation system of  claim 16 , wherein the constraint data comprises data relating to a surgeon's preferences concerning orthopaedic implants to be used in the orthopaedic surgical procedure. 
     
     
         18 . The implant recommendation system of  claim 16 , wherein the constraint data comprises data relating to a range of acceptable orthopaedic implant sizes. 
     
     
         19 . The implant recommendation system of  claim 16 , wherein the constraint data comprises data relating to an amount of bone planned to be resected during the orthopaedic surgical procedure. 
     
     
         20 . The implant recommendation system of  claim 16 , wherein the constraint data comprises data relating to the planned location and orientation of one or more orthopaedic implants relative to one or more bones of the patient after the orthopaedic surgical procedure. 
     
     
         21 . The implant recommendation system of  claim 16 , wherein to determine the one or more recommended orthopaedic implants to have present in the inventory of orthopaedic implants available to the healthcare facility for the orthopaedic surgical procedure comprises to determine a range of orthopaedic implant sizes that satisfy the constraint data.