AI Axial3D

We believe that the future of surgery is patient specific. Patient-specific surgical planning drastically improves patient outcomes and reduces healthcare costs. In order to achieve this tailored way of treatment planning, clinicians need  access to a three dimensional visualisation of the patient’s anatomy, something that’s not possible with conventional 2D imaging, such as CT scans.

2D images alone often do not fully convey the necessary precision and insight for physicians to confidently plan a surgical procedure on 3D anatomy. This can lead to a lack of clarity among surgical teams and longer operating room times, resulting in higher costs to the healthcare provider and heightened risk for the  patient. Conversely, 3D visualisations and 3D-printed models of patient anatomy help physicians to more quickly and clearly understand the patient’s condition before surgery while supporting enhanced surgical team and patient communication. Ultimately, 3D anatomical modelling helps physicians to make faster decisions with much greater confidence to help them perform safer, and often faster and cheaper surgical procedures with reduced risk of complications.

In order to create a 3D visual or 3D-printed model of a patient’s anatomy, their 2D medical scan needs to be converted into a 3D file, a process known as segmentation. This process is currently performed manually by skilled engineers using specialty software, with the 3D images taking hours to produce. This is labour intensive, costly, and doesn’t scale, and restricts the types of surgeries that the 3D visuals and printed models can be used for. To overcome these limitations, Axial3D has been developing innovative supervised machine learning algorithms to be able to perform this process automatically at scale and at a price point that is accessible for all. Clinicians can easily upload a 2D medical scan to our online platform. These scans are then automatically segmented by the software which is then validated by our medical visualisation engineers. The creation of 3D visuals and printable files takes only minutes. The printable files can be output in a hospital’s 3D print lab or can be printed on site at Axial3D. Full production and delivery of a physical 3D-printed model is fulfilled within 48 hours. We are currently the only company in the world capable of these turnaround times.

Our medical 3D visualisations and printed models have transformed the pre-operative planning process. Surgeons are able to confirm their plan and even practise the approach before the surgery using the 3D-printed model. As a result, the time spent in the operating room can be reduced significantly, which shortens the patient’s recovery time and benefits the overall wellbeing of the patient. Additionally, the surgical team is able to pre-select the appropriate equipment, which saves time and costs sterilising unnecessary equipment.

Our mission is to make medical 3D models affordable and accessible for everyone. There have been some cases in which our models have had life-changing results, such as baby Pippa’s case. Pippa was suffering from a complex malformation of her heart and had to undergo life-saving surgery. To reduce the risk of complications, the surgical team ordered a 3D-printed model that was an exact replica of Pippa’s heart, enabling them to plan the procedure more precisely, tailoring it specifically to Pippa’s complex case. Pippa was finally able to go home after spending the first six months of her life in hospital.

Having access to a tangible model not only benefits the surgeon, but also the patient. It can be difficult to understand what a surgical procedure entails and the associated risks. Using the 3D model enables the surgeon to show and explain in great detail what the procedure will look like and how this is necessary for the patient’s treatment. This improves the patient’s confidence going into surgery, and it enables informed consent. This can be especially useful when parents have to make decisions about their children. It allows them to make these decisions with more confidence, and trust that the procedure is the best option for their child.

Lastly, it’s no secret that COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on surgical capacity in many hospitals across the country, leading to the cancellation or deferral of millions of elective procedures and resulting in a significant backlog of surgeries. It has left hospital systems across the world wondering how they can quickly and safely increase operating room throughput to reverse the backlog. Thanks to the additional insights our patient-specific 3D modelling provides, surgeons are able to better optimise the time in the operating room, which enables them to improve operating throughput and help reduce surgical backlogs.

Additional Information:
A recent ground-breaking study, undertaken by the University of Ulster showed that use of our 3D-printed models for surgical planning fundamentally reduced surgical time and cost, and improved the resulting clinical outcomes.

Between July 2020 and July 2021, Axial3D provided 72 patient-specific 3D-printed models to 33 surgeons from orthopaedic, cardiothoracic, maxillofacial and neurosurgical specialties. The surgeons were asked to assess the impact the models had on surgical planning, communication, cost and patient safety.

The convincing findings clearly show a wide range of benefits to surgeons, hospitals and patients:

• 42.7% of responses reported a reduction in pre-operative planning time.
• 92.6% of surgeons said the model helped surgeon-to-surgeon communication.
• 91% of surgeons said the model helped trainee communication and education.
• 59.1% of surgeons said the 3D model positively affected patient consent.
• Surgical time was reduced in 41.5% of cases.
• 86.6% of responses agreed that the model improved surgical outcomes.
• 92% of surgeons agreed that 3D models were a better method for surgical planning than traditional 2D methods alone.
• 94% of surgeons agreed that 3D models either saved money or were cost neutral.
• 52.2% of responses agreed that the model provided a cost saving.

The surgeon testimonials below show that our models met the needs of our customers and improve the patient journey:

“[The 3D model] was incredibly helpful, when we were viewing the CT the model had been reconstructed from the ventricular side so everything was a mirror of what it should be. The model instantly highlighted our mistake and helped us plan the operation better highlighting areas that we need to be aware of and actually how close the structures are when the valve is being inserted”
– Cardiac surgeon, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust

“The quality of the model is far superior than that of leading brands in the industry. Dedicated approachable and quite helpful team. Innovative thinking and always available to explore new requests.”                                                                                                      – Craniomaxillofacial surgeon, South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust

“The model was extremely useful in pre-op planning amongst the surgical team and explaining the options to the patient and her family. It allowed us to plan the bone tumour excision and reconstruction using a periarticular locking plate into the proximal tibial epiphysis rather than an Ilizarov frame and fibular strut graft harvested from the non-involved limb. This reduced the operative time, patient morbidity and hospital stay and allowed for a quicker rehabilitation for the young lady. We would definitely use 3D modelling for future complex bone or soft tissue tumour cases. Many thanks.”
– Oncologist, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust