You can’t flip through news headlines today and not see something about AI (Artificial Intelligence) and how it is radically changing just about every industry on the planet.
Across industries, companies are using AI in an attempt to streamline efficiencies. From ordering a hamburger in the drive thru to use for predictive analysis of liquid biomarkers to detect cancer before it is even detectable at stage one on an imaging study.
Even reading your mind! I’m not joking. A recent article published in Nature reported on scientists now being able to interpret brain signals and converting them to speech. A mind-blowing technologic achievement to aid and assist people with speech deficits.
It is certainly in the infant stages; however, AI will revolutionize much of what we are doing “manually” today.
This is impacting ORIGEN Orthopedics + Optimal Health’s specialty in orthopedics in quite a few ways! From early osteoarthritis disease detection by interpreting a combination of lab biomarkers and very subtle imaging findings that would trigger treatments to intervene sooner, to later stage disease interventions. This technology and big data are used to determine more precisely the specifications of knee and hip replacement implants best suited to the individual having surgery. Even after care models of rehabilitation are useful for identifying when someone may have problems such as the loosening of a surgical implant.
You are witnessing an evolution in medicine that will transform every aspect of healthcare, and hopefully for the better. With this advancement, more time and focus can be returned to the human aspect of the interactions with patients. Because, fortunately, we’re not quite ready to replace doctors and nurses with robots!
Planet Rich Plasm
A different version of AI that ORIGEN Orthopedics + Optimal Health has been using in the non-surgical Orthopedic Regenerative Medicine practice is PRP (platelet rich plasma) and stem cell treatments to stimulate healing of injuries. In many of these cases, when treated early in the injury/degenerative disease cycle, fantastic results have been seen with pain reduction and functional improvements. For the individual suffering, this returns function, independence, and for a lot of patients—the ability to avoid surgical interventions altogether.
Another form of AI treatment we use, known as AI-Orthobiologic, gives better and faster results with our patients. In this context, AI stands for Augmented, Integrative, and Orthobiologics referring to cellular injection interventions such as PRP and stem cell treatments.
Two technologies we are now integrating, to augment our treatments:
- Extracorporeal shockwave treatment (ESWT), a.k.a. Shockwave treatment
- Class IV laser
Extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) was first introduced in the medical field in the early 1980s for the treatment of kidney stones (lithotripsy). The application of ESWT for orthopedic conditions began in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
In the past 15 years, extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) has emerged as a leading option for the efficient treatment of musculoskeletal disorders such as:
- Tendinopathy/tendinitis (rotator cuff, hip/gluteal tendonopathy, achilles, patellar tendon)
- Lateral and medial epicondylitis (tennis and golfer’s elbow)
- Calcific tendinitis (rotator cuff, achilles tendon)
Lasers for medical/therapeutic purposes have been around since the 1960s, the first documented use of high-power Class IV laser in Orthopedics in the early 2000s. In 2002, a pivotal study by Mester et al. demonstrated the effectiveness of high-intensity laser therapy in reducing pain and promoting tissue repair in musculoskeletal conditions.
In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved several specific shockwave and laser devices for these treatments:
Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT): Uses high-energy acoustic (sound) waves to induce microtrauma, which promotes blood flow, stimulates cell regeneration and reduces pain by initiating the body’s natural healing processes.
Class 4 Laser Therapy: Uses high-intensity light for photobiomodulation of tissues enhancing mitochondrial activity, promoting cell activity, release of growth factors and tissue regeneration. It reduces inflammation and pain by modulating inflammatory mediators and increasing circulation.
Bringing this all full circle, I will now discuss non-treatment options for stubborn osteoarthritis of the knee.
Cellular treatments including PRP and stem cell, like any other technology, have improved over the past decade. Stacking ESWT and laser treatment on top of these treatments has been shown to augment and accelerate the results. A deeper and more complete healing equals more and longer lasting pain relief.
In clinical practice, Orthobiologic procedures using “AI” Augmented and Integrative treatments with ESWT and Class 4 medical-grade laser therapy can offer superior clinical outcomes for pain reduction and tissue healing compared to one treatment used alone.
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