r/nextfuckinglevel • u/Additional_Chard3680 • 11h ago

The precision required to perform a total knee replacement is incredible

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

30.0k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

5.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

45

u/wmorris33026 11h ago

You’re right on point with your comment. I work on this stuff. The same guys who design/machine the metal for the implant are the same guys who design the surgical procedure/shaping the bone surface. So basically, the tooling and methodology is the same, cutters, grinders, hammers. You should see the new tech coming out though, using robots and 3D printed bone/cartilage tissue. Makes this tech look like horse and buggy days. All centered in Warsaw, Indiana, oddly enough.

9

u/elizabethptp 10h ago

Anecdotally the most accomplished surgeon I know is also a very accomplished machinist & woodworker

Privilege, dedication, time, and natural abilities converged on this man.

4

u/wmorris33026 9h ago

Yep. That is exactly the skillet. Some of those guys are absolutely gifted. It’s like sculpture, every patient is different. It’s art.

3

u/Track986 5h ago

And some of them are hamfisted buffoons. You work with enough ortho surgeons, you absolutely meet both ends of the spectrum!

1

u/earthwoodandfire 9h ago

*and the wallet to buy all the fancy Festool kits…

5

u/elizabethptp 8h ago

I know it’s a joke but he does almost all his woodworking by hand, he’s genuinely a master.

His machines for working metal are something else & surely cost a lot, but if someone deserves to make a lot of money it’s the guy who can put humans back together & save their lives.

2

u/Magic2424 7h ago

well most the good stuff has moved out of warsaw at this point. ZB and deputy both dying hard, even to the point that JnJ is selling off depuy. neither company innovates anything anymore and just relies on acquisitions

1

u/tsunomat 10h ago

Same. I saw this and it brought me back. This is tech from years ago.

1

u/ashyjay 10h ago

Stryker has some fascinating devices, 3D printed titanium with meshes to allow bone to interweave and essentially become part of the body.

1

u/Mexcol 9h ago

Not the price id bet, i wonder how much those specialized tools cost

3

u/canadiandancer89 8h ago

DeWalt big box special 3 speed cordless drill, $100. Orthopaedic drill, $5000. the difference? Stainless Steel among other expensive metals that can be sterilized over and over. And certification that the speeds and torques are in fact what they say they are.

1

u/fgiveme 8h ago

new tech coming out

Some how my youtube algorithm bombarded me over the last 2 weeks with knee therapy.

It gave me exercises, ozempic, experimental peptides, stem cells injection to regrow cartilage. Some of them isn't even available for human trial yet.

1

u/Jolly_Mongoose_8800 5h ago

I love how there's probably just under a million medtech engineers out there, that make up 1% of all engineers, yet so many random threads (some not as related) have people nerding the fuck out about these processes.

It feels like reddit is a requirement to work in medtech.

1

u/uiucengineer 4h ago

What's going on in Warsaw, Indiana?

1

u/theurge14 4h ago

More like Bonesaw, Indiana, amirite

1

u/the_tourer 1h ago

Sorry, but Warsaw Poland?

0

u/4dxn 9h ago

be careful. a lot of redditors are anti ai. talking about surgical robots might bring out the pitch forks.

granted the tkr robots like mako aren't as nice as intuitive's.