At a Glance
AI-driven implants reduce surgery time by 50%, improving outcomes and lowering costs.
OsseoLabs' 3D-printed personalized implants streamline surgical workflow, minimizing complications and anesthesia risks.
AI tech cuts design time by 60% to 90%, reducing costs by 53% and enhancing surgeon satisfaction with custom implants.
Surgical design and planning with assistance from artificial intelligence (AI), coupled with 3D-printed personalized implants, from OsseoLabs Co., Ltd., is a viable solution to avoid the negative impact of hefty US tariffs and supply chain disruptions.
Unlike traditional implants that entail lengthy procedures and multiple surgeries, the Bangkok Thailand-based company’s OsseoMatrix technology and AI-driven device design software creates personalized implants that integrate seamlessly with the patient’s own bone structure, thus reducing rejection rates, decreasing standard surgery time by 50% and significantly lowering operating costs and anesthesia risks, along with fewer costly follow-up procedures and long-term complications. Surgical workflow is also streamlined.
The custom surgical implants are designed for maxillofacial, orthopedic, and dental surgery.
“We work with the surgeon to plan the surgery, on a computer, in 3D,” said company co-founder and CEO Vikram Ahuja, PhD.
Through OsseoLabs’ website, the surgeon uploads a CT scan of the surgical area and designates where he wants to cut the bone, cancer, or tumor in the surgery room.
“We use AI to speed up the design phase,” Ahuja told MD+DI. “The AI system on our platform automatically generates a cutting guide of surgical instruments for each case.”
The surgeon also designates on the CT image where the implant is to be located. The implant is then rendered in 3D for surgeon approval. The approved image is transmitted in a file to a manufacturing facility in Thailand, where it is 3-D printed in titanium to serve as the implant for the fixation device, and shipped to the surgeon’s facility.
For surgeons practicing in Thailand, the entire process takes 3 to 7 days; international shipping takes between 14 and 21 days.
OsseoLabs’ first implant case was in 2021, in Thailand, for mandibular reconstruction. To date, there have been 173 total cases, all performed in Southeast Asia.
“Our surgeon satisfaction rate is 100%,” Ahuja said. “This proves that AI-powered implants are a game changer for both patients and providers. Our results also show that cutting costs and improving patient outcomes don’t have to be mutually exclusive.”
A 510(k) clearance of the platform is expected within the next six months.
OsseoLabs was founded in 2022 and currently has 37 3D-printed surgical instruments and implants, most being implants and most of the products for the maxillofacial space, which represents more than 80% of the business.
“Without any AI assistance, we would need to employ numerous engineers to do the planning on the computer,” Ahuja said. “Since the first case, we realized that AI could shorten our design time by 60% to 90%. And by continuing to refine our platform, the design time can be reduced by more than 90%.”
The cost of manufacturing and design for each case is now 53% less than traditional cost, which are passed on to healthcare institutions.
US tariffs on Mexican and Chinese goods also benefit OsseoLabs financially because many large implant companies, foremost Johnson & Johnson, have factories in Mexico or China.
Although US tariffs have not been imposed on Thailand, OsseoLabs is considering opening a US site to shorten shipping time and augment its personalized technology. Meanwhile, most of the raw materials the company imports, including titanium powder and 3D-printing machines, come from the US and Europe.
Besides tariffs, global medtech supply chain disruptions are placing pressure on hospitals and insurers. “Our technology minimizes these disruptions,” Ahuja said.
Few US surgeons offer patients personalized surgical solutions that cover both implants and surgical instruments, according to Ahuja.
“Neither are there many US companies that do the same,” he said. “But these implants allow patients to live a better life, and surgery is more precise and faster.”
